Fall-out is filled with a variety of survivors, both friendly and dangerous. Between the Raiders, Caesar's Legion, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Minutemen, and so many others, life in the wasteland is full of surprises, making it difficult to figure out who to trust. That said, few of the game's factions are as interesting as Fall-outs super mutants.
Supermutants stand out as one of the wasteland's most exciting species. Throughout Fall-out franchise, these enormous humanoid creatures have played the role of both friend and foe. Despite being a class of species, Super Mutants have been depicted completely differently in each game, despite coming from a common source: the FEV.
The origin of Fallout's powerful super mutants
What is FEV?
To fully understand the origin of super mutants, it is important to first know what FEV is. FEV stands for “Forced Evolutionary Virus”, which is an artificially produced virus and biological weapon that can mutate the DNA of the organism it is exposed to. It is an incredibly powerful substance that has multiple strains, the Institute's strain (FEV-II) and Vault 87's Evolutionary Experimentation Program (EEP) being just two examples.
Super mutants have been in every single Fall-out game.
Supermutants have roots all over the wasteland
The story of the super mutants goes all the way back to before the Great War. The pre-war West Tek experiments with the FEV virus were the catalyst that brought supermutants to life, but after the Great War it would be years before testing started again. After being exposed to FEV at the Mariposa military base in 2103, Dr. Richard Gray about to build an army of super mutants. He would eventually be called the Master, and while he is credited with bringing back the super mutants, he definitely wouldn't be the only person responsible for creating a new group of mutant humans.
In addition to Richard Grey, Vault 87's evolutionary experiment program was responsible for the Super Mutants of the Capital Wasteland, while the institute can be credited with creating the Commonwealth's version of the species. Not all super mutants are created equal, and throughout the franchise, the West Coast species has been very different from the East Coast variety.
As the Fallout franchise continues to evolve, so do the super mutants
West Coast Super Mutants
- Fall-out
- Fallout 2
- Fallout: New Vegas
One of the defining characteristics of the West Coast Super Mutants is their different personality types. Despite their monstrous appearance, this brand of Super Mutant seems to have more of their human traits intact, but not everyone is a friend. These super mutants can still be hostile, but there are also companions in these three games. IN Fallout 2Marcus is a strong, but benevolent Super Mutant who is the mayor of Broken Hills, a community where humans, Ghouls and Super Mutants work to live together in peace. Marcus is seen again in Fallout: New Vegasbut he now leads Jacobstown, a super mutant settlement. Another characteristic that defines the West Coast Super Mutants is their decent level of intelligence, and since each displays different personalities and temperaments, Fall-out, Fallout 2and Fallout: New Vegas all raise questions about whether or not they can successfully live among humans.
Most super mutants look pretty similar with their green or dark gray/green skin color, but the Capital Wasteland variants stand out as they have a bright greenish yellow appearance with red spots. Nightkin Super Mutants are blue.
East Coast Super Mutants
- Fallout 3
- Fallout 4
- Fallout 76
While the West Coast variants are clearly intelligent and many want to reintegrate into human society, the same cannot be said for many East Coast super mutants. Capital Wasteland types are borderline savages and are almost always hostile when encountered. In the Commonwealth, super mutants lack the intelligence of the West Coast, but they still form tribes. Despite their less than favorable reputation, Fallout 4 has a Super Mutant companion named Strong, but he's more useful as a tank than anything else because his personality makes bonding difficult.
Fallout 76 contains pre-war super mutants who are the product of humans subjected to a horrific West Tek experiment that purposefully contaminated the Huntersville River with an FEV strain. Like their East Coast counterparts, these Appalachian Super Mutants are primarily hostile, building makeshift armor and forts from scraps found throughout the region. As of late, Bethesda has begun delving deeper into the region's super mutants. Fallout 76The Burning Springs update added the Rust King, an intelligent super mutant warlord.
Older East Coast Super Mutants (especially from the Capital Wasteland and Commonwealth) sometimes evolve into Behemothseven larger and more muscular mutants that have much lower intelligence. This is because their strain of FEV causes them to constantly grow.
Super mutants are one of the best things about Fallout's World
On the surface, Super Mutants may just seem like hulking beasts, but these creatures encapsulate so many of the themes that make Fall-out what it is. With Super Mutants, players are shown the consequences of unchecked corporate power, the horrors of creating bioweapons for war, and the hubris of humanity, as playing god and lusting after power is what got everyone into this post-apocalyptic mess in the first place. They are not just a walking symbol of what the Great War did to Fall-out's United States, but they are also a complex and fascinating part of lore. Just because some of their variants aren't incredibly intelligent doesn't mean they're useless. Supermutants are strong and capable no matter what their intelligence level is, but also, when it comes to characters like Marcus, seeing them in a more human light is a stark reminder that these creatures were once human too.
With the premiere of Fall-out Season 2 just around the corner, it will be exciting to see if the Super Mutants are finally introduced to the series. A deep voice speaking in the latest Season 2 trailer definitely sounded like it could be a super mutant, and since the season takes place in New Vegas, it has the potential to even be Marcus himself. Time will tell, but since then Fall-outs first game, Super Mutants, has been an important part of its wasteland-focused history.
