Wendigo

Wendigos are creatures found in Appalachia.

Background
Wendigos are mutated humanoids encountered in post-apocalyptic Appalachia. While the precise nature of their origin is unknown, numerous individuals that are known to have transformed into such creatures are connected through their participation in the act of cannibalism. Morris Stevens, exiled leader of the cannibalistic raider gang known as the Gourmands, is one such example.

Wendigos derive their name from Algonquin folklore creature of the same name. Pre-War urban legends surrounding the wendigo cave within the Savage Divide became reality when the Progenitor Wendigo, formerly Morris Stevens, made its home there.

Biology
Wendigos are gaunt, emaciated humanoids with ashy gray skin, long bony arms, and a large, distended abdomen. Their arms and legs are long and slender, and though they typically hunch close to the ground, they are capable of standing. Their skull-like face has short strands of long, stringy hair, sunken, blackened eye sockets, and a mouth filled with long, jagged teeth. Their hands are large, with fingers tipped by sharp claws. The have a similar radiation resistance to that of feral ghouls and are sometimes found among small groups of them. Acid can be harvested from their teeth.

Wendigos are carnivorous and often hunt prey, and make no discern between human or animal. They emit audible raspy exhalations when alerted, and they have the ability to let out a signature piercing scream to intimidate and stagger their prey.

Characteristics
Wendigos are aggressive and can quickly deal a high amount of damage. Their melee strikes are powerful enough to stagger those in power armor. 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 may 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. Feral ghouls and wendigos are friendly to each other.

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

Ravenous wendigo
A more powerful wendigo variant with a reddish, fleshy appearance. Its darker, muddled colors can easily make the creature blend into dimmer or more urbanized environments.

Glowing wendigo
One of the strongest variants, it bears a charred appearance and has 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 spawn
The strongest variant, it is identical to the glowing wendigo. They appear almost exclusively alongside wendigo colossi, and are called to support them in battle. Three of them can be found inside Monongah Mine by themselves during the event A Colossal Problem.

Locations
A wendigo can appear in the following locations:
 * Pylon ambush site
 * Willard Corporate Housing
 * Garrahan Estate
 * Fort Defiance
 * In the solitary confinement block of Eastern Regional Penitentiary
 * Haven Church
 * Lewisburg
 * Freddy Fear's House of Scares
 * In the R&D section of Garrahan Mining Headquarters
 * Mountainside Bed & Breakfast
 * Big B's Rest Stop
 * KMAX Transmission
 * Seneca Rocks Visitor Center
 * Watoga Emergency Services
 * Drop Site C2
 * Drop Site G3
 * Firebase LT
 * Sal's Grinders
 * One may appear in Lake Eloise's surroundings.
 * Wendigo spawns will appear in extremely high numbers during A Colossal Problem.
 * Up to three consistently spawn on the road south of Abbie's bunker, by the truck suspended by vines.
 * 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.
 * The Nightstalker (legendary glowing wendigo) will always appear at the end of the One Violent Night event.

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).

Named 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.

Behind the scenes
In Algonquin folklore, a wendigo is a malevolent spirit that is frequently associated with winter, cold, famine, and starvation.