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If you were to make a list of iconic creatures in the Fallout series Super Mutants would be up there pretty high, if not at the top. These towering green hulks are as deadly as they are dumb, and they can be pretty dense. Super Mutants have appeared in every game in the Fallout series, and they’re a good skill check for how prepared your character is for the wasteland whenever you encounter them.
For many, the original Fallout was their initial encounter with these muscle-bound meatheads, for others the more modern sequels. But regardless of when you first saw one of these big lads gleefully running towards you, ominously beeping Nuke clasped tightly under their arm, Super Mutants are a suitably silly species for the series. If you’ve ever wanted to know how the Wasteland was gifted with such majestic creatures, here’s how the Super Mutants were created.
What Are Super Mutants?
Super Mutant is a term that is used to describe a human that has been mutated into a huge, extremely strong, overbuilt, odd colored humanoid after exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus or “FEV”. They’re a brutal and barbaric tribe that cause chaos throughout the United States wherever they&rsquo♐;re found and are often purged relentlessly by either well-armed locals or Brotherhood of Steel crusades.
Often wielding homemade clubs and scrap-crafted firearms, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Super Mutants are also known to carry large caliber weapons thanks to their enhanced strength. It turns every encounter with them into a hard stand against a heavy-hitting wave of force that can easily ꦯblow through the most well-defended of settlements.
How Were Super Mutants Created?
Super Mutants didn’t just appear from nowhere as a result of the nuclear apocalypse. Unlike the other roaming monstrosities in the world that were the result of the sat🅘uration of radiation across the globe following the Great War, they’re man-made.
These muscle-brained marauders first appeared in the first Fallout game as creations of a being known as The Master, and were churned out en masse with the plan of conquering the wasteland. Though they were defeated by the Vault Dweller, what’s🐻 l😼eft of this once grand army either laid down their arms and found communities where they could co-exist with humans, or became brutal bloodthirsty raiders.
The first generation of mutants was somewhat intelligent, could form their own opinions, and weren’t necessarily hostile. But unfortunately, subsequent spawn created with exposure to later versions of FEV would prove to be more hostile to humans, substantially less intelligent, and more prone to violent outbursts.
The Forced Evolutionary Virus
The Forced Evolutionary Virus, or FEV, is an artificially created serum that was originally produced by the NBC Division of Wes Tek, a pre-war company in the United States that worked as a defense contractor and research corporation. They helped create 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Power Armor, the Gauss Rifle, and of course, the Super Mutants. Though the company is defunct now for obvious reasons, their experimentation into gene✤tics is still felt throughout the 🐻Wastelands.
Though there have been different variations of the original genetic soup of FEV, the end results are usually the same — a malformed mutation, more living weapon than person. Whilst the original use of the virus was supposed to be to enhance crops and animals to improve their resilience and yield, like everything else, it eventually fell into the hands of the military. The research took a more dark and twisted role over the years, and even beyond the Great War.
Super Mutant Transformation
The transformation process into a Super Mutant is extremely simple, and also incredibly painful for the subject. After a Human has been dunked in a vat of FEV for a time, they emerge possessing extreme strength, endurance, immunity to disease, radiation, and enhanced lifespans, but with substantially modified intelligence. In most ca🐟ses, they’re extremely simple-minded, but there have been a few extremely rare an♔d notable exceptions to this rule with individuals either retaining their intelligence, memories, or original personality after exposure to FEV.
Examples of this include Fawkes, Uncle Leo, Strong, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Lily Bowen. They retained some degree of intelligence and memory of who they were before exposure along with the physical benefits the transformation into a hulking brute provides. Though the most notable and common result of prolonged exposure to the virus is a Super Mutant, in some cases (depending on either the genetic composition of the individual or the amount of additional material added) different strains of mutation are possible. This is the case of the Centaurs, shambling amalgamations of human and animal reduced to twisted abominations of flesh and limbs.
Where Are Super Mutants Found?
In a testament to their resilience, Super Mutants can be found pretty much anywhere within the post-war wastelands. They’re fairly common, and all across the blasted lands they regularly raid settlements or carve out brutal fiefdoms of their own, butchering and devouring anyone that gets too close. Since they’re encountered in every Fallout game spanning across Washington, Boston, Virginia, Las Vegas, and beyond, it’s safe to assume that they’re a pest that’s not going away anytime soon, despite the best efforts of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Brotherhood of Steel and their regular mutant purges.
A telltale sign of a Super Mutant encampment being nearby is the loud barking of the gene-enhanced hounds and crude medieval-looking forts slapped together from bits of scrap — usually adorned with the cadavers of their victims. Each camp is often run by an Overlord, or Master, which are large and incredibly tough mutants that carry the strongest weapons and wear the thickest armor. Most wastelanders steer clear of these encampments, lest they end up on the menu.
Super Mutant Types
An interesting thing about Super Mutants is that whilst it is a catch-all term for their species, there are some variations. Though their design has changed somewhat over the years with each 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:new Fallout game, there have also b🍌een a few unique variants that have cropped up to keep t🌌hings interesting.
Either through genetic manipulation or passage of time Super Mutants can become much deadlier. Here are some examples of Mutant variety that's popped up over the years.
Nightkin
Through prolonged use of Stealth Boys, Super Mutants known as Nightkin were created by the Master as his ultimate invisible soldiers. They were the perfect warriors, trained in stealthy operations and subterfuge. But as stronꦓg as they were, their development was later abandoned as the strain eventually led to mental instability.
This was thought to be down to the Stealth Boys used to induce invisibility. The machines altered the brain chemistry of the wearers after prolonged usage, with the instability manifesting in violent psychopathy, schizophrenia, and delusions. Remnants of the Nightkin army can 🍬be found in New Vegas, where they eke out a living whilst others go through rehabilitation.
Behemoth
Similar to the Orks of Warhammer 40K, the older a Super Mutant is, the bigger and stronger it becomes, with the most long-lived of this species becoming what’s known as a Behemoth. These towering slabs of muscle and dull wit stand at a Kaiju level height of 20 meters and are more than capable of sending someone into orbit with one lazy swing.
No longer capable of intelligent speech due to extreme brain degradation, Behemoths shamble across the Wastelands, pretty much doing whatever they want. Often seen wielding a large fire hydrant as a makeshift club, with a shopping cart backpack and large sheets of metal attached as rudimentary armor, Behemoths are titans of the Wasteland. They’re so strong that they’re often considered a mini-boss in the Fallout games. For example, killing all five of them in Fallout three nets you the "The Bigger They Are" achi💜evement, so you’re encouraged to🀅 take them on if you’re prepared.
