Wendigo

Wendigos are creatures found in Appalachia.
==Background==
Wendigos are mutated humanoids encountered in post-apocalyptic Appalachia.Cryptid sighting: Wendigo 10/25 Individuals such as Morris Stevens have transformed into the creatures, connected through their indulgence in the act of cannibalism.Edie's note Pre-War urban legends surrounding the wendigo cave within the Savage Divide became reality when the Progenitor Wendigo made its home there.Morris's end 
While a number of wendigos exist in Appalachia, only a handful can be specifically traced to a named pre-mutation human. With each person that mutated having largely unique circumstances leading to their transformation, the only constant in each scenario is the consumption of human flesh prior to becoming a wendigo, though that does not explain why they have thus far only appeared in Appalachia, or why wendigos were not commonplace before the Great War. It is possible that the addition of nuclear radiation could be the catalyst for the mutation; Earle Williams became a cannibal so addicted to human flesh he was willing to kill for it in 2076, before the dropping of the bombs, but it's unclear when his physical mutation started.
Additionally, many of the recorded cases involve mental degeneration shortly before the transformation, though it is unknown if that is a requirement for the mutation to take hold, or merely a symptom exhibited before turning.
There are some implications that wendigos may be a subtype of feral ghouls, or a similar type of mutant. During the Vault 79 raid, a wendigo can be found among the populace of feral ghouls, implying that it may have mutated alongside them. Feral ghouls can often be found working in tandem with wendigos in various locations, and are not hostile to one another.
==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.
===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. They 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.
==Variants==
===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.
===Wendigo colossus===
==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
* 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.
==Related quests==
===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; she was a former member of the Pioneer Scouts.
* Scott Conroy - a former cryptid hunter turned wendigo, encountered in the sunken church as a leveled diseased wendigo. 
* "The Nightstalker" - a legendary glowing wendigo that killed the Sons of Dane.
==Notes==
* There is a miscellaneous quest to kill a Wendigo while wearing a clown costume. Completion of the quest requires wearing both the clown outfit and clown hat. Although the quest marker suggests going to the wendigo cave, killing any wendigo counts for the challenge.
* Edie's note, found on a woman's corpse in the wendigo cave, tells of her and her partner, Morris Stevens, committing cannibalism. After being exiled from the Gourmands for eating fellow gang members, a short amount of time later he became greedy (in folklore, a sign of becoming a wendigo), and began to watch her hungrily. She is later found dead, and Morris can be found alive, having devolved into the "progenitor wendigo."
==Appearances==
Wendigos appear only .
==Behind the scenes==
* In Algonquin folklore, a wendigo is a malevolent spirit frequently associated with winter, cold, famine, and starvation. It possesses and transforms human beings who have committed sins such as selfishness, greed, gluttony, murder, and especially cannibalism. The spirit then forces them to consume human flesh, turning them into a monster with an insatiable hunger for it. The wendigo is also part of the traditional belief system of many Algonquin-speaking cultures, such as the Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu peoples. Though the folklore among cultures varies somewhat, the wendigo is commonly seen as an evil, cannibalistic, supernatural entity.
** Traditionally, some indigenous people believe that to discuss this being is to give it power. It is considered a symbol of trauma and loss, sometimes associated with settler violence against indigenous people.DeSanti, Brady (2015). "The Cannibal Talking Head: Portrayals of the Wendigo 'Monster' in Popular Culture and Ojibwe Traditions". Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 27 (3): 195. It could be considered inappropriate to bring the subject up to an indigenous person unprompted, whether they personally believe in the legend or not.https://web.archive.org/web/20231031094711/https://www.tumblr.com/iesika/175195655311/uhh-is-something-wrong-with-using-the-word-wendigo?source=share For these reasons, some fans call these creatures "banshees."
** Any association between the creature and deer is a recent invention of pop culture.
==Gallery==
Wendigo power armor lithograph.jpg|Harry Osborn lithograph
Tales from the West Virginia Wendigo.png|Wendigo appearing on the cover of Tales from the West Virginia Hills: Curse of the Wendigo!
FO76 Wendigo w Dead Caravan.jpg|Wendigos with a destroyed caravan
FO76 Morris Stevens.png|Morris Stevens, a former raider and the first wendigo
FO76WA Camp Counselor Nia.png|Camp Counselor Nia as a wendigo
FO76WA Scott Conroy (Wendigo).jpg|Scott Conroy as a wendigo
FO76 Glowing Wendigos.jpg|Two glowing wendigos on a road
FO76 Ravenous wendigo.png|Ravenous Wendigo in Lewisburg
FO76 Legendary Perk Exploding Palm Art.png|A wendigo, as shown on the Exploding Palm
FO76OW Legend card Expl palm.png
Mounted wendigo.png|Mounted wendigo
Wendigo_nif_render.png|NIF render
FO76 creature wendigo01.png|Wendigo
FO76 creature wendigo02.png|Ravenous
FO76 creature wendigo03.png|Glowing
FO76 creature wendigo04.png|Scorched
FO76 creature wendigo05.png|Early Scorched design (cut)
==Video==
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==References==
Non-game
Category:Fallout 76 creatures
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