Ghouls, super mutants, and deathclaws. In the wasteland of Fallout, there are many dangers and monsters that haunt the devastated world. One of them is a special creature that also exists as a myth in our world.
Which creature is it? In the games and series of Fallout, there are iconic creatures. Ghouls and deathclaws seem to be everywhere in the wasteland. However, the different regions of the USA also have different monsters that are usually only encountered there.
One of these creatures is the Wendigo, which you can fight in the Appalachians, in the eastern USA, in the game Fallout 76. Although they look like even worse ghouls, there is a terrible background behind them.
An evil raider who was even cast out by his group
What are the Wendigos in Fallout 76? In the Appalachians, there are 5 raider gangs. One of them was the Gourmands, led by Morris Stevens. They were not only brutal raiders; they were even cannibals who overwhelmed travelers.
When the group’s food ran low, Stevens broke the group’s most important rule: one should not eat one another. His urge was so great that he, together with his wife, killed Gregory, one of the raiders, and ate him.
The corpse was discovered, and the two were banished from the raider group. Both fled into a cave. A letter in the old hideout of the Gourmands suggests that they continued to kidnap former members. Stevens and his wife became increasingly insane (Source: Oxhorn on YouTube).
It went so far that he killed and ate his own wife. After that, he transformed into a Wendigo, the so-called Progenitor Wendigo
, who later haunted the region and killed his old gang.
Very few Wendigos are known, who they once were. While there is still a case of Earle Williams, it is unknown what actually triggers the transformation into a Wendigo in Fallout. Already 2 days after the bomb fell, the researcher Beverly Solomon reported a Wendigo sighting.
It could be the radiation from the bombs combined with cannibalism, but that was never really confirmed. Therefore, Wendigos could also be a variant of ghouls, but that is just speculation. The Wendigo is based on a real myth from our world, and you can notice the parallels.
Wendigos as a myth in our world
How are Wendigos described in legends? The myth of the Wendigo originally comes from the folklore of Native Americans, particularly the Algonquin groups who belong to the Anishinaabe people, who are from the northeastern USA and Canada.
The Wendigo is often depicted as a winter creature and is a monster that a person who has become a cannibal transforms into. A Wendigo is also often described as an evil spirit that possesses humans. The interpretation of the myth varies depending on the tribe’s narration.
The Wendigo is not just a monster; it symbolizes what happens when humanity is shed. A person who becomes a Wendigo succumbs to their hunger and greed, acting selfishly. That’s why it is also associated with winter, which can create difficult conditions for food, making unity important during that time.
This also aligns with the description of Wendigos in Fallout, except that here high radiation could be an additional component.
The Wendigo, like many myths, is a popular element in pop culture. There are Wendigos in movies and series like Supernatural or Antlers, but also in games like Until Dawn or Dusk.
Fallout is inspired by many things for its various monsters. Be it the zombie myth, mutants, or even mythological creatures that look very different than one might imagine: A creature from Fallout is the perversion of a mythological being, even taking down super mutants
