Mothman

Mothmen, referred to as the Bright One(s) by cultists, are cryptid creatures found in Appalachia. It has a museum dedicated to its mythology and is worshiped by the Cult of the Mothman. It appears as part of a random encounter. If approached but not attacked, it will fly off and disappear.

Background

Main article: Cult of the Mothman

Prior to the Great War, the "Mothman" was a mythical creature in local Appalachian folklore that was described as a terrifying half-man, half-moth hybrid that stalked the area around the town of Point Pleasant.^[1] The story of the Mothman was sensational enough to create a wide following, ranging from cryptid hobbyists to aggressive conspiracy theorists hellbent on uncovering the deeper mystery of the creature. The Mothman's legend lead to a number of tourist attractions, such as the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant. Stories and other popular fiction were sold as novelty holotape recordings.

Ultimately, the interest in the Mothman was generally unserious and not seen as worthy of genuine scientific inquiry by the scientific community.^[2] While the legend of the Mothman was seen as a simple folktale, a clandestine following of the creature emerged in secret. The mysterious Cult of the Mothman, its followers fervent in their worship of the Mothman as a divine being, practiced numerous rituals and established numerous hidden shrines that can still be found all over post-War Appalachia.

As the nuclear holocaust loomed on the horizon, the cult attempted to summon the creature to benefit from its cosmic wisdom and earn protection from the nuclear fire soon to rain from the skies.^[3] The summoning was complete on October 22, 2077, and visible to just one of their number, Brother Charles, who immediately shared the wisdom he received, speaking of floods to come on the following day. The faithful took it as a signal to gather on the rooftops to avoid the destruction and give praise to the Mothman.^[4]

The flood came, with the cult members heeding the warning and deciding to seek shelter in high elevations, but the flood happened not quite how they expected it, instead taking the form of nuclear fallout. Remnants of their cult activities littered Appalachia long after the followers perished, as did the Mothmen, and these giant mutated moths would continue to remain in the region for years to come.

Biology

The Mothman is described as being a "winged beast with piercing red eyes that prey on those in the Point Pleasant area."^[5] Its carapace sports a dark and furry texture, and its multifaceted eyes glow various colors; it also possesses a beak-like mouth. Its wings are membranous and veined, akin to a real-life fly or moth. When idle, they typically remain perched with their wings shrouded around them to greatly diminish their silhouette. They are capable of spreading their multiple wings wide when attacking or when granting boons. Mothmen hatchlings emerge from Mothman eggs as fully-formed, tiny Mothmen.

Characteristics

Mothmen are giant man-sized moths with compound eyes (typically red but can be multiple colors), large membranous wings and two large antennae sprouting out of the top of the head. It is skittish and quick to flee in certain encounters.

Gameplay attributes

Mothmen encountered in the wild may only spawn during the evening at specific random encounter locations, and never appear during the day. The Mothman has a large detection radius, and will typically observe the player character until they get too close. Depending on the variant, it will be passive or immediately aggressive. If a player does not engage the Mothman in combat, it will flee by vanishing into thin air, briefly leaving a dark shadow behind.

In combat, Mothmen attack by aggressive vocalizatizing, which generates waves of sonic blasts that cause staggering and blurred vision. They will often launch into the sky and reappear at another position in order to evade and confuse opponents. Upon death, they will disintegrate into a pile of ash as if killed by laser weaponry. Because of this, challenges that involve taking a photograph of a mothman should be completed when it is still alive as the ash pile that's left after its death cannot be photographed for challenge credit.

Variants

Mothman

A timid Mothman that flees as soon as it enters combat. It is invulnerable.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Mothman 0000DAE1

Stalking Mothman

The black Mothman with glowing red eyes, as the name implies, stalks the player character in proximity. It isn't aggressive, but will defend itself if attacked.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Stalking Mothman 004EC627		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil

Vengeful Mothman

The vengeful mothman may spawn with one of 3 colors. The black variant ranges between levels 20-50, the gray between levels 25-50 and the red between levels 30-75. This Mothman is agressive and will always be hostile.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Vengeful Mothman (black) 004EC626		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil
Vengeful Mothman (gray) 00490770		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil
Vengeful Mothman (red) 00490771		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil

Glowing Mothman

The glowing Mothman has been highly irradiated, and as a result, now glows. It has a mostly black body with glowing green features.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Glowing Mothman 00490772		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil

Scorched Mothman

FO76 creature mothman Reconnoiter 01.png

The Scorched Mothman has been infected by the Scorched Plague. It is one of the rarest creatures in the game, only encountered after a Mothman has Scorched by a scorchbeast. Alternatively, one may be found in Enclave research facility.

Name (Form ID)

Abilities

Items

Scorched Mothman
0049077B

Melee (0 ) empty

Wise Mothman

A non-hostile, purple-eyed Mothman seen after completing The Path to Enlightenment event quest at the Landview Lighthouse. If interacted with, the wise Mothman will grant a +5% Experience Point boost for the next hour.^[6] One may also appear in a random encounter, but won't have the option for an Experience Point boost.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Wise Mothman 0038799E		Ballistic fiber scrap Mothman egg Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil
Wise Mothman 0038799E		Ballistic fiber scrap Neurotoxic dust Torn mothman wing Waste oil

Mothman hatchling

A tiny Mothman encountered only during Daily Ops.

Name (Form ID)	Abilities	Items
Mothman hatchling 005F87AF

Locations

Approaching any of the markers on this map at night will have a 2.5% chance to spawn the Mothman:
- Chance to appear at the southwestern point near the lower southwest or eastern guarded "checkpoint" of the Whitespring Resort near road 83A and may interact with the nearby Whitespring Assault random encounter.
A wise Mothman previously appeared in the Wise Mothman random encounter, which has been removed from the game.
The Mothman may rarely spawn at Cult of the Mothman locations during the night.
- A Mothman can be sometimes found perched upon the belfry of the church in Kanawha County Cemetery
- Can be found perched atop the Moth-Home.
- A Mothman can be found at Blake's Offering.
One wise Mothman will always appear at the Landview Lighthouse upon successfully completing The Path to Enlightenment event.
Possible encounter during the Queen of the Hunt daily quest at night.
A Scorched Mothman is encountered within the Enclave research facility.
Mothman hatchlings may only be encountered during a Cultist Daily Ops.

Notes

Mothman may only spawn during the night. They will not despawn during the day.
- The The Path to Enlightenment Mothman is not bound by the time-of-day mechanic.
If a Mothman enters combat, but the player regains stealth, the Mothman will flee and despawn.
Although extremely rare (0.06%), it is possible to trigger two adjacent spawns with the Mothman and/or the Flatwoods monster, the latter of which may control the former if it strays too close.

Appearances

The Mothman appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

In West Virginia folklore, the Mothman is a winged creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area in the mid-1960s. The national press sensationalized the story across the United States and the Mothman has since become a famous cryptid in pop culture.
The first sightings of the Mothman were closely followed by the collapse of the Silver Bridge, killing 46. The short time between the two events lead many to conclude that the creature was a harbinger of disaster. This is reflected in Fallout 76, with the Mothman successfully foretelling the approaching apocalypse.^[7]