Wanamingo

Wanamingos (also referred to as aliens) are mutant creatures that appear in Fallout 2.

Background
Wanamingos are strange mutant animals that live mostly underground. Despite the rumors of their extraterrestrial origin, they were actually created with FEV as weapons for waging war on other countries and escaped into the wastes. In that aspect, they are similar to deathclaws.

In Fallout 2, they are called "wanamingos" only in Redding and "aliens" elsewhere, but eventually, the name "wanamingo" came to be used for the species as a whole across the wastes.

Biology
Morphologically, wanamingos are bipedal lifeforms that bear almost no resemblance to any other form of terrestrial life. They possess a large central body with a sizable mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a pair of long, tentacle-like appendages that appear to be used for both grasping objects and to batter opponents in combat. The creature's large head lacks visible sensory organs, but it does not seem to require eyesight in order to discern the location of prey. The creatures are devastating in close combat, chewing at foes and lashing at them with their tentacles. Through a process not entirely understood, these attacks also induce radiation poisoning.

They hatch from eggs laid by a wanamingo queen - a large grey-colored wanamingo which others fearlessly protect. They aren't intelligent in terms of typical fauna, but the species is described to have a collective mentality.

Range
Long-lived but unable to reproduce without a queen, they are slowly dying out by 2241. The only known queen lives in the wanamingo mine in Redding. All "aliens" living in that mine are killed by the Chosen One in 2242. Other wanamingos can be found scattered throughout the wasteland between Redding and San Francisco, most notably in the San Francisco tanker.

Gameplay attributes
Wanamingos are fierce foes and a potent threat to lower-level players. They are highly resistant to most damage types and can hurl a flurry of powerful attacks at their enemies in close combat. However, they have a natural weakness to fire and will flee if one of their feet becomes crippled.

Wanamingo
Wanamingos are strange mutant animals that live mostly in underground colonies. They are often mistaken for extraterrestrial beings, due to their otherworldly anatomy. They can easily shrug off damage which would tear the flesh from the bone of a human, and are truly a force to be reckoned with.

Wanamingo queen
The wanamingo queen is the matriarch of the wanamingos, found within the depths of the mine near Redding. This is the only queen known to exist in 2241. She can lay eggs for the reproduction of the wanamingos and can be found deep underground in her breeding room.

Appearances
Wanamingos appear in Fallout 2 and appeared in Fallout 76 in plushie form as part of the Fallout 76 update One Wasteland For All. Mutant wanamingos do not appear in the files of Fallout 3, but can be found in the book The Art of Fallout 3, an art book available with the Collector's Edition of the game. This book also includes a new version of wanamingo mutated by radiation.

Behind the scenes

 * The wanamingo appearance is very similar to the H.R. Giger xenomorphs of the Alien series, specifically their head. They are also referred to as "aliens" outside Redding.
 * In the Fallout Bible, Chris Avellone stated his personal opinion that they should not be included in any future Fallout games, and speculated on their origin:

"Sorry about the error on the Wannamingoes and sterility – I had forgotten about the mother and the eggs in Redding. In any event, to clarify, the eggs you see in Fallout 2 are the last generation of Wannamingoes to exist in the wasteland; the young Wannamingoes seen in F2 will perish in five years, and their parents a few years before that - an internal genetic clock will simply stop ticking, and they'll fall over dead. The Wannamingoes are a vicious mutant breed that had their moment in the sun, and now their sun has set.

To put the tombstone on their extinction, the largest known nest of Wannamingoes were wiped out when the Great Wannamingo mine was reclaimed by Redding with the help of a traveling tribal. The mother was killed, and the last remaining eggs were hunted down, stepped on, and then the remains were examined by local scientists and doctors who came to the extinction conclusions mentioned above.

Again, Wannamingoes are not aliens – they are a curious mutant or genetically-designed fighting machine that has only been able to find a home in the cold, dark places of the wastes.

It is possible that the wannamingoes were old Enclave experiments (or even experiments from before the Great War), and if this is true, then it's likely their genetic/biological deadman’s switch was purposely engineered to keep them from breeding past a certain generation.

As a final note, this is strictly a personal decision on my part. If you want them to live for fan fiction, pen-and-paper role-playing campaign purposes, or for your own peace of mind, feel free to have some of them survive the stopping of their genetic clock – in the Black Isle universe, however, the little buggers are already dead and their irradiated shells are scattered along the floor of abandoned mines throughout northern California where they make nice crunching noises when you step on them."

- Fallout Bible 2


 * A mutant wanamingo was considered for inclusion in Fallout 3 at one point, with an enlarged mouth, no tentacles, and a pinkish color. It was eventually cut.