Hunters of the Wastes Boss: The Centaurex

by Bethesda

"A giant bulge of mutated flesh with little regard to anything or anyone. Expect to be split in two if you are caught if you're lucky enough for such a fate..."

One of the most grotesque creatures that survived the bombing of the institute, also has one of the most disturbing origin stories. Rather than some random monster you would find in the damp darkness of the sewers this monster was once Matthew Anderson and Clarke Blaine, two institute workers who found themselves on the wrong end of the Workplace likeability when they were found poking their noses where they weren't supposed to be. The resulting board meeting resulted in Matthew and Clark being tried and sentenced to horrors no one should ever go through…

Thus Enter The Centaurex.

Physiology

This creature displays the biological features of each of its genetic-benefactors of course, though imperfections in the technology that created it led it to appear asymmetrical in shape and in much of its right form. The upper part of the body is that of a human torso, towards the right however, it displays a monstrously-warped face marked by strange scars upon its nape and crown. The creature itself shares one spinal column despite the two entities that make up much of its upper half. As a result the spinal column itself is bulky and thick and splits off in a Y formation to form the spinal column of each of its upper halves. Built in form much like its namesake the centaurs found west in the Nevada desert, it is a huge, fleshy, lumbering creature with pillar-like arms for legs, is double in size compared to the western centaur, leading them to reach a size vastly taller than an average human, but much bulkier than their centaur cousins. Their coloration is mostly grey or a pale form of yellow, save for a flesh colored patch where their upper body splits into its two halves.
Between the two halves that make up much of its upper bulk, one side tends to be more dominant then the other. This dominant left side, or the more human looking half of the creature appears to be conscious, and leads much of the body in its attacks. While the creature itself is generally described as a Single Living Organism and not two organisms living in one congealed mess of a form, the humanoid torso attached to the entire mass seems to control much of its entire being, though other parts of its body seem just as independently alive as the humanoid on top of the horrific creature. During a Fight it is obvious the human side is highly dominant in a combat scenario often guiding the whole body through its attacks. Because the human half of the centaurex isnt as mutated as it's more bizarre looking other half, the human head can also be heard repeating some words and phrases - this however is rare as with all centaurs it is dependent on the extent of the mutations on the head, thusly centaurs who exhibited the characteristic tentacles jutting from the mouth do not speak, or make noise at all, even if they have the means to do so.

Behavior

Known to be quite aggressive when it needs to be, but isn't particularly territorial in a sense as they don't have a set territory, instead wandering out from sewer system to sewer system to hunt for food or wandering the halls of the bioscience wing of the institute where it is believed to have been held in a secret wing. However, should Centaurex ever feel like it's being threatened or the area in which it decides to hold itself up is threatened , it will quickly become an aggressive beast which will make sure the threat regrets its decision. Centaurex is aggressive during a fight attacking almost anything that intrudes on its domain or that it deems a prey item, but it also displays a cautious side, preferring to kill prey and rivals alike from a distance whichever way it can.

Attacks

Much like all centaurs, Centaurex is often not that agile. Due to its massive bulk it often doesn't get the luxury of being able to run or perform fast moving attacks like many of its other monsterous bretheren. As a result, many of its attacks focus on its strengths.

Minor Attacks (Human Phase)

• Grab

Creature grabs the player and attempts to slam them on the ground

• Back hand

Creature attempts to deliver a heavy damaging backhand, knocking the player back if not avoided.

• Slam

Creature delivers a downwards arm slam to the player.

• Quick Bash

Creature Performs a quick and unpredictable hip check / full body swing, but causes light damage to the player if not hit directly.

• Leg Grab

If in the event you must escape and the creature is behind you while you are attempting to flee, the human head will order its monstrous side to send out a tentacle that will grab the player's leg, preventing the player from moving.

Major Attacks (Human Phase)

• Belly Sweeper

The Centaurex raises itself on its hind legs, slams its upper half violently on theground then violently sweeps the ground with both its arms legs and tentacles

• Ew Spew

A low health attack, the Centaurex spews radioactive slime at its opponent from a distance. This is a far reaching attack that requires timing to dodge, by looking at where shadows are appearing on the floor

• Gag Attack

Similar to the Ew Spew, Gag Attack is an acidic attack. The Creature points its head to the ground and after a brief delay, expels acid that covers a big portion of the area. This will degrade equipment. Staying in it too long may cause all of the player's equipment to break, and worse may cause the player to take a considerable amount of damage should they find themselves caught in it..

• Gore Gorge

A low health attack and a tired state attack the Creature makes a grab for the player when close. If the player does not dodge the grab, it lifts then gorges itself on the player inflicting tremendous physical damage as well as recovering some of its own health

The Mad Batter

The second phase of this fight focuses on the monstrous head. Upon first “death” the human-esque head seems to "die", going limp and passive, while the monster uses the disfigured head more and more exclusively. With no pure cognitive function to lead it in battle, this side's attacks are frenzied and uncoordinated utilizing its massive bulk much more than it did when its human head was in charge. It also gains more attacks. As the creature at this phase is always in a Confused Rage mode so expect some heavy damage to be dealt when you encounter some of these moves.

Major Attacks (Mutant Phase)

• Charge

In an attempt to ram the player, the creature will lower its head and dash abruptly forward, if the creature misses its target it will attempt to stop itself. In a Tired State the creature will frantically attempt to stop itself only to trip or ram into a nearby wall, effectively dazing itself. It is highly recommended that you use these precious moments to deal some damage before it rights itself back up.

• Heavy Body Slam

Same as a normal Bodyslam but this time the creature will make the attempt to do it more than once. In Enraged mode, the number of times the creature can do it varies between 3-5 times compared to the 1 or 2 times with a normal slam.

• Tenta-Thwap

The Creature will unravel the 4 tentacles it has curled around its neck and use them as a weapon in various ways. Ways include, tripping the player, ensnaring the player, or using it as a club to bash the player.

States

Rage is when a monster has absorbed a certain amount of physical damage and reacts by becoming much more aggressive. While it often takes a lot of damage and time to get a monster to this certain point, others like Centaurex can enter this state completely on a whim regardless of the damage done to them.
Enraged State When in the “human” phase, Centaurex’s enraged state often includes frenzied attacks that deal more damage. The enraged state itself is signaled by the sudden rapid pulsation of exposed veins that could scarcely be found on the chest, neck and back. When in the “Monster” phase, The enraged state happens more often. Signaled by the sudden rapid pulsation of exposed veins, the tentacles also swell in size and deal more damage. In the beginning the creature will roar a gargled hoarse sound and rapidly slam its upper torso on the ground in a sort of temper tantrum.
In whatever phase the creature is in the tired state is always the same. Slow movements, easy to dodge attacks and inability to get up fast enough after tripping and falling during said attack all make up this creature's tired state.
On a Disturbing note however the creature's "human" half appears to be conscious in this state as it repeatedly pleads with the player to stop hurting it. This also indicates that the previous host’s may still be slightly aware of its surroundings, but oddly unaware of its fate. Whether or not that is the case or not, it is recommended that the player does not fall for these pleas, as the second the creature emerges from its fatigue, it will not show mercy like you might be willing to do.

Cutscenes

Centaurex has three major cutscenes to coincide with the area’s it can be discovered. The First Cutscene is triggered nearly automatically when the player returns to the bioscience wing of the institute after retrieving their respected items and attempting to climb through the hole in the ceiling in the middle of the hallway. Before then little pinpoints of the creature can be seen throughout the bioscience section of the game, such as low gurgling noises, the sound of crying, the sound of something heavy moving through dark parts of the hallway the player cant get too, as well as a small encounter of a misshapen silhouette appearing on the wall as it raises what looks to be a mangled head which slowly turns in the direction of the player.
After various unknown close encounters with the creature, the player finally comes face to face with it after successfully climbing up to the floor above from a hole in the ceiling. After hoisting themselves up a cutscene will show them turning around to go down a hallway only to come face to face with the upper half of the horrible monstrosity, as it is eating a charred corpse of some unidentifiable creature towards the end of the hallway.
As the player backs away from the creature in order to escape, they accidentally step on a piece of broken glass. The audible crunching sound alerts the creature which lifts its human head up with the corpse still dangling in its mouth. As the player runs off, the creature gives an audible roar that rattles the whole wing. The first encounter with the creature is a series of First person Quick-time-events that requires the player to dodge obstacles in the way as the creature barrels itself clumsily down the hall.
Should the player be knocked down by the random tentacle attacks the creature does or hit items a total of 3 times, the player will trip, and a cutscene will show a mangled arm reaching out to snag the player as a shadow on the wall and sound effects hint of a grisly demise. But as this section of the encounter is relatively easy, this shouldn't really happen unless you're a masochist.
In total Centaurex can be fought both in the institute and in the sewers as a final encounter. However in the Institute it will take on a more defensive opposition rather than aggressive and will use discarded pieces of furniture to defend itself, often using the tentacles on its right side to hurl them at enemies (the player), or use them as a barrier between player attacks and itself. Lucky for the player, these pieces of furniture are not that strong and as a result dont do much damage, they can however fling the player back, resulting in them sprawling on the ground for a few seconds before getting up.

Weak Points and Breakables

• Centaurex does not have many weak points outrightly available to the player it's chest, which would be one of the more exposed of it's senstive parts, is covered in a exposed layer of thick calcification, which acts as armor. As a result sharp weapons are more likely to bounce off this part of it's body and it will take some time to break, once broken however, the creatures chest can be exposed allowing for actual damage to be done.

• Another Breakable spot include's the exposed spine that runs down it's back that it uses whenever it decides to do it's ram attack, if this part is successfully broken, the creature will flinch and drop an item, and all ram attack damage will be cut in half

• All tentacles on the monsterous part of it's body are weak points and can be broken, but only when in it's enraged mode can true damage actually be done to them, as they will become enorged with blood and thus weak The main middle tentacle is also the only one that can be severed from the rest.

• The legs of the Centaurex can also be broken, with the skin becoming battered and torn - Centaurex will also fall over briefly after this part break.

• Once enough damage has been done to it, the tail can also be severed, but first it will be broken, with visable cracks appearing in the hard bone.

1-Interesting note: In Holotapes that can be discovered throughout the destroyed institution, recorded documents suggest that the creature went through horrific torment during its time in captivity.
While much of the experimentation it went through is left unknown, what is known is that many experiments involved bodily harm, with one suggesting that scientists severely wounded or even cut off certain parts of the creature's body in various ways in order to get a handle on its regenerative abilities.
As a result, should the player decide to wear any of the lab-coats found strewn throughout the building, the creature develops a rare “Fear Rebuff” that only a few enemies can present with, and is unlikely to perform much of its grab attacks due to what can only be described as an apparent crippling fear. In this state, it is more likely to perform “Far Attacks” or attacks built more for defensive purposes.
2-Unlike many other creatures thrown and known throughout the world of Hunters of the Wastes, Centaurex is the only one that offically does not have a turf war with any of the larger creatures.
Instead it can be shown attacking smaller creatures such as the corpse rat that live within the sewers, or any other smaller creature, if the player does not disturb them once encountered. It can be shown violently throwing them around and attempting to consume them, before giving up and throwing the corpses away.
These corpses and any other corpse killed by Centaurex can be looted, but they do not yield good loot such as animal parts, due to the creatures corrosive spit damaging the materials. While they can't be used for crafting, they can be sold for a small price.
3-Wounding Centaurex's spinal spikes also decreases the efficiency of its abilities to block and counter attacks. It also reduces the chance of getting Defence Down from it's heavy attacks.