Ah, the wasteland. There are few places harder to get to in this world, and nowhere harder to live. Over the last 22 years, I’ve observed the wildlife of Fallout and seen some truly haunting things. Here are some of the creatures I found most noteworthy.
Bethesda
Brahmin
A peaceful creature, the Brahmin roams the wasteland with relative cheerfulness. Originally descended from the Indian brahman cattle variant, these beasts have mutated to have two heads in the new irradiated world. They are raised throughout the wasteland for their labor, milk, fertilizer, hair, leather, and meat.
Bethesda
Cyberdog
A product of the new world, cyberdogs are mechanically enhanced canines found in the wasteland. Cyberdogs are pretty rare as creating one is tough, requiring both a high degree of technical knowledge and intense breeding and training programs. Some of their modifications include replacement limbs, artificial tail, and sometimes, replacement of the mandible with a robotic jaw and metal bottom teeth. The replacement of vital organs, including the brain, with high-tech artificial implants allows cyberdogs to live indefinitely. Nine out of ten scientists agree that cyberdogs are the goodest boys of the wasteland (excluding Dogmeat, of course).
Bethesda
Yao Guai
Let’s take a turn to the spooky side of the wasteland. Named by descendants of Chinese internment camp prisoners, yao guai are mutated black bears and one of the deadliest creatures of the wasteland, featuring razor-sharp claws and teeth and a REAL bad attitude. However, much like their pre-war ancestors, yao guai exhibit a gentle, familial bond toward one another and can even be domesticated. Even these spooky bears have a soft side.
Bethesda
Deathclaw
Big! Big! The size of three men! Claws as long as my forearm! Ripped apart! Ripped apart!
— Trent Barrister, Fallout
The deadliest creature ever to walk the plains of the wasteland – the deathclaw. Originally, they were made by the U.S. government to replace human troops, but after the Great War, deathclaws escaped into the wild and quickly spread across the continent.
Deathclaws are a 20 foot long carnivorous bipedal reptile species, designed for maximum lethality. The rippling musculature of the deathclaw provides it with superior strength, excellent speed, and incredible resilience in most combat situations. Despite their inhuman form, the deathclaw has opposable thumbs and five fingers on each hand. Each ends in a sharp talon allowing the reptile to kill with frightening efficiency, just a single swipe can completely bisect an unarmored human. Following their first combat test, deathclaws broke free of their captures, far more intelligent than anyone could foresee. They began developing a unique culture, as the first non-human sentient beings in history. Deathclaws should never be underestimated. We are still discovering just how much they are capable of.
