Wendigo
Basic Information
Anatomy
Wendigos are nightmarish humanoid monstrosities, towering and gaunt, with pitch-black skin stretched so thin over their withered bodies that their bones seem ready to tear through at any moment. An animal skull adorns their heads, a macabre mask that obscures whatever horror lies beneath. Their elongated, bony fingers resemble twisted claws, perfect for rending flesh. Wendigos move on either large, ape-like feet or cloven Cervidae hooves.
Growth Rate & Stages
Wendigos are born from horrific pacts with the goddess Celestia, typically made by outcasts or individuals with exceptional hunting prowess. Once the contract is sealed, the transformation into a Wendigo begins—a nightmarish process lasting a month. The human undergoes a grotesque metamorphosis: their body becomes emaciated and skeletal, their skin darkens to a horrifying black, and a nightmarish animal skull begins to grotesquely emerge from their face. The wendigo then gains an insatiable hunger for human flesh, marking the complete loss of their humanity.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Wendigos exclusively hunt and consume human beings, as they are unable to sustain themselves on anything other than human flesh. They cannot digest hybrid humans and can detect the difference between hybrid and pure-blooded humans by scent alone. Wendigos are insatiable, capable of consuming multiple humans in a single sitting. Despite their constant need to hunt, they do not require food to survive. In captivity, Wendigos have been observed enduring for months without any nourishment. However, prolonged periods without eating lead to significant declines in their mental stability.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Wendigos are highly solitary creatures, often reacting violently if others come too close. While Wendigos are capable of reproducing with humans, hybrid humans, and other Wendigos, this is extremely rare, as most copulation with Wendigos result in the death of their partners.
Domestication
Wendigos are ill fitted for domestication due to their high intelligence, high durability and high lethality
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Wendigo leather is one of the most durable organic substances known, significantly stronger than Kevlar. Despite being light and thin, it is highly heat absorbent and perpetually cool to the touch. The leather is also exceptionally heat-resistant, fire-retardant, slash-resistant, puncture-resistant, acid-resistant, sound-absorbent, electrically repellent, and explosive-resistant. These qualities make it extremely valuable for military use, particularly in bomb squads. Wendigo leather is also sold on the black market to eccentric millionaires who falsely claim to have killed a Wendigo.
It should be noted that Wendigo leather retains the radio properties of living Wendigo skin.
Facial characteristics
A Wendigo's face is typically obscured by an animal skull, often that of a Canid or Cervidae. If the skull is from an antlered animal and the Wendigo is of the appropriate sex, it will grow large antlers. While Wendigos do not shed their antlers, they can be torn off, after which the Wendigo will regrow them. The skull is fused to the Wendigo's skin and can only be removed with significant force, though this is highly ill-advised, as the Wendigo will likely kill anyone who attempts it—and seeing what's underneath is something no one wants. Over time, the Wendigo will regrow the skull, which may sometimes resemble a different animal.
Average Intelligence
Wendigos retain their human intelligence after transformation. As many Wendigos were highly skilled hunters in their human lives, they typically become extraordinarily proficient hunters in their transformed state. Wendigos are also known to set traps when pursuing more skilled prey.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Wendigos possess heightened versions of all their previous human senses, along with additional supernatural abilities. They have an unusual capacity to detect individuals who have seen them and can pinpoint their current locations, though this awareness is not permanent and fades after some time. This tracking ability extends to images and videos, allowing them to sense those who view them through photographs or recordings. Wendigos also have an exceptionally acute sense of smell, comparable to that of a bloodhound. They can see clearly in complete darkness, and it is possible that they may also have thermal vision, although this has not been definitively confirmed.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Lifespan
Unknown
Conservation Status
To Be Eradicated
Average Height
8ft -20ft
Average Weight
300lb - 1500lb
Average Physique
Wendigos are always bone-thin, regardless of how much they eat, only gaining height and length with each meal. Despite their emaciated appearance, Wendigos possess superhuman strength, often capable of lifting and throwing cars. However, it is rare for a Wendigo to rely on brute strength to solve problems, even when it might be the easier option.
Wendigos are virtually indestructible to most modern weaponry, shrugging off damage from bullets, blades, flames, lasers, electrical shocks, and even high explosives without a hint of injury. They are not entirely impervious, however; they can be harmed by elemental weapons or spells that channel cold, psychic, or poisonous effects. Despite this, Wendigos remain extraordinarily resilient and difficult to strike, making them formidable and nearly invincible adversaries.
Attempting to poison Wendigos directly is a futile endeavor due to their extraordinary sense of smell, which allows them to detect most toxins from miles away. Moreover, since Wendigos exclusively consume human flesh, any poisoning strategy would require contaminating a human corpse—rendering this approach both impractical and highly ineffective.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Wendigo skin is pitch black, capable of absorbing 99.92% of all light, including infrared, rendering them invisible to infrared cameras, except for their skulls. However, their skin emits a specific radio frequency around 635 kilohertz, which can be picked up by AM radios. The signal varies between static, screams (from various species, primarily humans), the sound of nails on a chalkboard, and bone snapping. Although no known pattern has been established between the sounds and Wendigo behavior, the signal's intensity can be used to triangulate a Wendigo's location.
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