Centaur

Centaurs are misshapen, mutated creatures. They are a by-product of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, as they were created by tossing a varied mix of dogs, cats, brahmin and other animals into an FEV vat and seeing what came out the other end.

The Centaurs are not only created by the FEV, they also seem to live in a heavily irradiated environment.

West Coast
On the West Coast, centaurs frequently travel in packs with floaters. They encompassed a large bulk of the Master's armies and are commonly found with the nightkin and other remnants of the Master's army who roam Northern California.

Capital Wasteland
The Centaurs encountered in the Capital Wasteland are physically different from the Centaurs from the Core Region, trading the dog-like head for a human one and the feelers on the back for 3 long, tentacle like tongues. Unlike its core region 'cousins', the Capital Wasteland Centaur uses a ranged attack: a high-arcing, slow-moving projectile that can carry lethal doses of radiation. Oddly enough, it is capable of igniting lingering gas vapors as well.

Although most Centaurs found in the California wasteland seem to be a mixture of several animals such as dogs and cats, the Centaurs found around the Washington D.C. area (Fallout 3) appear to have no canine or feline (or other species) characteristics - only those of severely deformed humans. Some even suggest that these centaurs belong to a completely different evolutionary branch than those seen in the previous Fallout games. Its likely that the Capital wasteland Centaurs are made up of only human parts given that in most Super Mutant camps there will be containers called Gore Bags, which usually contain mutilated body parts, (such as Mutilated Torso, Mutilated Skull, Mutilated Arm or Mutilated Leg) in addition to other miscellaneous items such as Ammo, Bottle Caps, and occasionally a few Frag Grenades. Presumably, all the items found in the Gore Bag were those carried by the victims.

Appearances
Centaurs appear in Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout 3.

Combat Statistics
Centaurs are moderately dangerous, but slow-moving, and have long, tentacle-like tongues which can be targeted in V.A.T.S. They occasionally carry caps or small trash items.

A good strategy when fighting with Centaurs is to snipe one at medium range. Even then, a player can easily side-step at the moment when the Centaur throws its "radiated slime?" at him. Any decent middle-ranged weapon like the Assault Rifle or 10mm Submachine Gun will do the job. Targeting in V.A.T.S. for a Centaur's tongue may be tempting but due to its small size it is often a waste of ammo. Shooting in the head is a more effective solution. It is much bigger than the tongue and few rounds from mentioned weapons is enough to kill it. If the opponent manages to survive through the first V.A.T.S. sequence, just side-step his shot and attack again.