Mothman

Mothmen, referred to by cultists as the Bright One(s), are cryptid creatures found in Appalachia in 2103. It has a museum dedicated to its mythology and is worshiped by the Cult of the Mothman. It can be encountered in a random encounter in which it appears near the player character. If approached, it will fly off and disappear.

Background
Prior to the Great War, the "Mothman" was a mythical creature in local Appalachian folklore that was described as a terrifying half-man, half-moth hybrid that stalked the area around the town of Point Pleasant. The story of the Mothman was sensational enough to create a wide following, ranging from cryptid hobbyists to aggressive conspiracy theorists hellbent on uncovering the deeper mystery of the creature. The Mothman's legend lead to a number of tourist attractions, such as the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant. Stories and other popular fiction were sold as novelty holotape recordings.

Ultimately, the interest in the Mothman was generally unserious and not seen as worthy of genuine scientific inquiry by the scientific community. While the legend of the Mothman was seen as a simple folktale, a clandestine following of the creature emerged in secret. The mysterious Cult of the Mothman, its followers fervent in their worship of the Mothman as a divine being, practiced numerous rituals and established numerous hidden shrines that can still be found all over post-War Appalachia.

As the nuclear holocaust loomed on the horizon, the cult attempted to summon the creature to benefit from its cosmic wisdom and earn protection from the nuclear fire soon to rain from the skies. The summoning was complete on October 22, 2077, and visible to just one of their number, Brother Charles, who immediately shared the wisdom he received, speaking of floods to come on the following day. The faithful took it as a signal to gather on the rooftops to avoid the destruction and give praise to the Mothman.

The flood came, with the cult members heeding the warning and deciding to seek shelter in high elevations, but the flood happened not quite how they expected it, instead taking the form of nuclear fallout. Remnants of their cult activities littered Appalachia long after the followers perished, as did the Mothmen, and these giant mutated moths would continue to remain in the region for years to come.

Characteristics
Mothmen are giant man-sized moths with multi-celled eyes, large insectoid wings and two large antennae sprouting out of the top of the head. It is skittish and quick to flee in certain encounters.

Biology
The Mothman is described as being a "winged beast with piercing red eyes that prey on those in the Point Pleasant area." Its carapace sports a dark and furry texture, and its multifaceted eyes glow various colors; it also possesses a beak-like mouth. Its wings are membranous and veined, akin to a real-life fly or moth. When idle, they typically remain perched with their wings shrouded around them to greatly diminish their silhouette. They are capable of spreading their multiple wings wide when attacking or when granting boons.

Gameplay attributes
The mothman has a large detection radius. It has three distinct eye colors that reflect their current state; purple for passive, yellow for cautious and red for hostile. The glowing variant of mothmen has green eyes which do not change depending on their state.

Mothmen encountered in the wild will almost always be found at some time in the evening, and never appear during the day. When spotted and non-aggressive, they will typically observe the player character until they get too close, at which point they will either attack or simply flee. When a mothman departs, it appears to vanish into thin air, briefly leaving a dark shadow behind.

In combat, mothmen attack by generating a ranged sonic blast with an aggressive vocalization. They will often launch into the sky and reappear at another position in order to evade and confuse opponents. Despite their mysterious nature, mothmen are not immortal. Upon death, they will disintegrate into a pile of ash as if killed by laser weaponry. Because of this, challenges that involve taking a photograph of a mothman should be completed when it is still alive as the ash pile that's left after its death cannot be photographed for challenge credit.

Mothman
A base variant of the creature, with most of the attributes described above.

Stalking mothman
The stalking mothman, as the name implies, stalks the player character in proximity. He may attack the player character and escape, or will just sit there, continuously watching them, and won't turn hostile even if attacked.

Vengeful mothman
This variant is a chalky gray, in comparison to the dark gray/black of the standard mothman. Unlike the standard and stalking variants, the vengeful mothman will always be hostile.

Glowing mothman
The glowing mothman is a variant of mothman that has been highly irradiated, and as a result, now glows. It has a mostly black body with glowing features, such as the eyes.

Scorched mothman
The Scorched mothman is a mothman that is infected with the Scorched Plague. There are chances to see it, but they are usually spotted during the Scorched Earth event at Fissure site Prime when a player character drops a nuclear bomb at the site.

Wise mothman
A non-hostile, purple-eyed mothman seen after completing The Path to Enlightenment event quest at the Landview Lighthouse. If interacted with, the wise mothman will give the player character a +5% Experience Point boost for the next hour. One may also appear in a random encounter, but won't have the option for an Experience Point boost.

Locations

 * Mothmen are almost exclusively found as a random encounter.
 * One wise mothman will always appear at the Landview Lighthouse upon successfully completing The Path to Enlightenment event.
 * A vengeful mothman can be encountered during the quest Queen of the Hunt.
 * A mothman can be sometimes found perched upon the belfry of the church in Kanawha County Cemetery
 * Chance to appear at the southwestern point near the lower southwest or eastern guarded "checkpoint" of the Whitespring Resort near road 83A on the map as a part of the Whitespring Assault random encounter.
 * A wise mothman will appear in the Wise Mothman random encounter.
 * A Mothman can be found at Blake's Offering.
 * Can be found perched atop the Moth-Home.
 * A Scorched Mothman is encountered within the Enclave research facility.
 * As of the Wastelanders update, Mothmen can randomly and rarely be encountered alongside cultist groups.

Appearances
The mothman appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

 * In West Virginia folklore, the Mothman is a winged creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area in the mid-1960s. The national press sensationalized the story across the United States and the Mothman has since become a famous cryptid in pop culture.
 * The first sightings of the Mothman were closely followed by the collapse of the Silver Bridge, killing 46. The short time between the two events lead many to conclude that the creature was a harbinger of disaster. This is reflected in Fallout 76, with the Mothman successfully foretelling the approaching apocalypse.