Wendigo

*"I-I didn’t have a choice! Please! It was so cold! So, so cold, and there was no dry wood for the fire anymore and the supplies were frozen and... there wasn’t anything else I could do! They were already gone, okay?! I did what I had to! I-I’m not a monster!"*

## Description

A tall, emaciated humanoid with frostbitten features. It has no ears, lips or nose, and its feet are ragged, blackened stumps. Long icicles have formed over its bloody gums and fingers to form fangs and claws.

## Moves

* Movement type: *Charge*. Hold X to run extra fast and damage everything in your way.
* Defense type: *Block*. Hold L1/R1 to defend.
* Light attacks: Claw swipes and bites
* Heavy attacks: Shoulder check, stomps and downward slash
* Grapple: *Feeds*, exactly the same as if performing its Active Special. Same effects and cooldown.

## Powers

* Roar: **CANNIBAL CURSE**. Nearby enemies are forced into lock-on and can only target their own allies & turrets. Friendly fire is temporarily turned on for those afflicted enemies, regardless of game settings.
	+ Cooldown: *Very Long*

* Active: **FEED**. Performs a lunging grab that locks one nearby enemy in place. Damage dealt is a bit below average, but Feeding recovers a small portion of health and adds +25% to the hunger meter (*Skin & Bones*).
	+ Cooldown: *Medium*

* Passive: **SKIN & BONES**. The Wendigo's attack power gradually lowers over time if it can't maintain a constant offense. It starts each match with normal stats but loses power the longer it goes without hitting another enemy. Every blow it lands on an ambient creature or Legend gives it a slight boost. Sustained combat can turn this debuff into a buff, with a potential maximum of +25% attack power.

## Playstyle

The Wendigo is a Legend of violent desperation. Perpetually starving, it must try and satisfy its bottomless hunger by constantly landing attacks, forcing it to be utterly relentless in its offense least it wither into *Skin & Bones* or turn on its allies. This ceaseless drive to spill blood makes it a dedicated DPS Legend, very rigid in playstyle, but also very efficient. Spreading its *Cannibal Curse* is its greatest power, forcing enemy players to turn on one another and inciting bouts of chaos and infighting. Experienced enemies will know when to stop attacking to prevent unnecessary casualties, but with their lock-on forced onto allied players there will be little they can do when the Wendigo strikes. The first blow may not feel like much, but the more the Wendigo attacks, the stronger it becomes- especially if it *Feeds*!

## Counterplay

The Wendigo's potential for raw damage is frightening, especially in situations where it can disrupt large groups with Cannibal Curse or use its superior speed to bully slower Legends. Stopping it from reaching that potential is of the utmost importance when fighting against it. The best and simplest way to deal with it is to choose not to: if the Wendigo isn't attacking then it can only get weaker. Choosing Legends who can move at high speed, camouflage themselves, burrow, swim, or fly can be very helpful when trying to deny it opportunities to Feed. Better yet, a coordinated assault involving a high mobility Legend and Tanks or DPS players can be very effective; if the fastest player acts as bait and stalls for long enough then the Wendigo's Cannibal Curse can work against it, providing allies with higher attack or HP the opportunity to swoop in and destroy it while it's weak.

## Legendarium

* *The Long, Hard Winter*
* *Wendigo Psychosis*
* *Ain’t No Horns on Me!*
* *Curse of the Vampire*
* *Zombies, Zombies, Zombies!*
* *Gashadokuro, the Starving Skeleton*
* *Werewolves of the World*
* *Kappa & Garappa*

## Trivia

* In the real world the Wendigo is an evil spirit from Native American folklore. Considered a curse as much as it is a type of creature, each individual Wendigo started its life as a normal man or woman but transformed after they (usually pushed to desperation by a very harsh winter) cannibalized another person. Once turned a Wendigo becomes a feral giant with a bottomless stomach and a heart of ice. They exist in endless agony, always starving to death but never able to fill their bellies no matter how much they eat.
* The Age of Aether Wendigo was drawn and designed by William Cope.
	+ He gave it stump feet as a reference to Algernon Blackwood's 1910 novella *The Wendigo*, in which the character Dr. Cathcart states: *"The Wendigo is said to burn his feet—owing to the friction, apparently caused by its tremendous velocity—till they drop off, and new ones form exactly like its own."*
* The Wendigo runs on all fours when Charging.
* Its active special *Feed* can be dodged but not blocked. It also works on both enemies *and* allies!
	+ Hitting allies also contributes to the Wendigo's attack recovery.
* The attack boost from *Skin & Bones* occurs regardless of whether or not the target blocked or took damage.
	+ Attacking turrets and structures does not contribute to *Skin & Bones*.
* The Proclet skin is a traditional Western-style vampire, and the Pouri skin a zombie.
* The Garagara and Ueta skins are Japanese Gashadokuro.
	+ Their eyes both make a subtle rattling sound as they bounce around in their sockets.
* Lupus and Bafrer are werewolves.
* Kyuri and Kiken are Japanese Garappa, long-legged river spirits related to the more famous Kappa.