Giant Rat (Fallout: New Vegas)

Giant rats are creatures living in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Biology
Giant rats appear to simply be larger versions of normal pre-War rats. The giant rats in Fallout: New Vegas appear to have lost most of their fur (likely to radiation) and have slightly-glowing turquoise eyes. Like normal rats, they also have very large incisors. Giants rats are often found in darker areas, such as Cerulean Robotics and Broc Flower Cave. Their meat is not used in any crafting.

Gameplay attributes
Giant rats will not attack on sight, but will stand defensively in the way bighorners do when the PC is spotted. Only when the PC either draws to close or attacks will the giant rat become hostile, and attempt to bite its attacker. Certain examples, such as the giant rats found in Freeside, will not attack the player regardless of whether or not it is attacked. As with most mutated animals, giant rats will not attack if the player has the Animal Friend perk, and are susceptible to and count towards the Animal Control perk.

Giant rat
These are light brown color, with glowing blue eyes and white hair on its back. The standard giant rat is equal in size to a mole rat.

Be warned, as the giant rat is not a creature to be underestimated; it can kill a low-leveled wastelander within 3 hits and its attacks will ignore Damage Threshold. At low levels, it's advised to avoid this creature; however, it has a low DT and can be gunned down if the legs are crippled. This is advisable because they are normally quite fast and attack in groups of 3 to 7.

Giant rat pup
These look identical to fully grown giant rats, but are smaller than the standard giant rat. They usually don't attack but run away.

Rodent of unusual size


The largest of the mutated rats found in the Mojave Wasteland to date, they are identical in appearance to their giant cousins, save for their increased size and attack strength. They are aggressive and will attack on sight. They can be found inside the Broc Flower Cave and also in the sewers beneath New Vegas.


 * Found in Broc Flower Cave.

Unnaturally large sized rodent
These are uniquely large giant rats, with only two in existence in 2281. They are found in the east central sewers in the same room as Jill. They are identical in appearance, except for size, to their smaller cousins. They are, however, far more aggressive and will attack the player on sight along with any nearby mutated rats, unless they have the Animal Friend perk.

Appearances
Giant rats appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * The rodents of unusual size are named in reference to William Goldman's novel and film The Princess Bride.
 * In Fallout 2, when the player speaks to Sajag in Klamath, in the dialogue there will be mentioned that Trapper Town has problems with ROUS - rodents of unusual size.