During Bethesda’s E3 presentation, Todd Howard showed off a lot of the new features of Fallout 76. Among those new things were a number of monsters and enemies never-before-seen in a Fallout title. According to Howard, the developers turned to West Virginian folklore for inspiration, making mutated enemies based on cryptids and beasts from various tales and legends; the Snallygaster, Mothman, Grafton Monster, Mega Sloth, and maybe the Flatwoods Monster or Snarly Yow. While it numbers among the lesser-known of West Virginian monsters, could there nevertheless be a Fallout 76 White Thing?
The White Thing in West Virginian Folklore
The White Thing doesn’t have the reputation of monsters like the Mothman or Snallygaster. Sometimes referred to as “The White Creature,” it’s a mountain-dwelling beast which resembles a dog as large as a bear. Tales describe it lairing in the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia, though it didn’t become well-known until 1965. That year, a folklorist by the name of Ruth Ann Musick published “The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginian Ghost Tales”. Musick suggested that beasts like the White Thing could be both a physical monster and a phantom.
The depictions provided by Musick and in other tales describe the White Thing as a ferocious canine monster. Unlike the Snarly Yow, which is usually depicted as dark black in color, the White Thing is, as its name suggests, covered in white fur. It supposedly has “saber-like fangs”, as well as horns like a goat’s. Some eyewitness accounts describe the beast standing on its hind legs in the manner of a bear. More outlandish reports claim that it makes screaming sounds and even has four eyes. According to certain monster sighting websites, there were a number of sightings of the White Thing during the mid-1990s, but a healthy dose of skepticism should probably be applied here.
Could There be a Fallout 76 White Thing?
The depictions given of the White Thing could easily fit some sort of mutated wolf or bear. Mutated body parts, including extra eyes, horns, or overgrown fangs could easily match up with folkloric portrayals. In the case of the Snallygaster, which has already been confirmed and shown in trailers, Bethesda chose to adapt the beast’s look into a heavily mutated form.
Fallout already has both Feral Hounds and mutated bears; the Yao Guai. It’s easy to imagine the White Thing appearing as a unique albino or more heavily-mutated version of one of those creatures. Alternatively, the White Thing could appear as a new form of mutant enemy. The last few Fallout titles have lacked an animal enemy between the hairless feral hounds or larger yao guai. As a canine as large as a bear, the White Thing could possibly fill that role.