History Main / Mutants

{{Mutants}} are, by general definition, organisms that have undergone a permanent change to their genetic structure relative to the norm for their species. Sometimes this results in a new race or breed, or even, as mutations accumulate over time, a new species (speciation), and sometimes it's a one-off that produces effects that don't breed true, or are (most commonly) so negative that they prevent the individual mutant from successfully surviving and breeding. Technically, any deviation in a person's genetic code from a "simple" combination of his parents' alleles would be a mutation. On average, human beings have 150 to 175 mutations each, the vast majority of which are undetectable. Technically, we're all mutants.

* The Daleks. And apparently the Thals, although they seem to have recovered by the start of ''The Dead Planet.'' Alydon [speaking of the Daleks] : "If they call us mutations... what must they be like?"

* In ''SluggyFreelance'' the No-Fun Corproation infects someone with a virus that causes them to [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20091116 mutate randomly]], which just so happens to turn him into a giant, cannibalistic monster. Go figure.

* The film ''{{Freaks}}!''

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[[caption-width:241:Beware the mutant.]]

There are two different ways to use the word Mutant: it can refer to characters who were born with a mutation, such as most members of the Comicbook/{{X-Men}}. MarvelComics, the storytellers that have to be the most specific about this kind of thing, refers to these as '''Mutants'''. The other definition is things that have had their genetic code changed after birth, whether by [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation damage]] or [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke gene therapy]]. MarvelComics calls these '''Mutates'''. Usually in fiction, these after-market mutations also alter germ cells and [[LamarckWasRight get passed on to the mutate's kids]]. For clarity's sake (and in accordance with the [[SuperRegistrationAct Mutant Registration Act]]), we keep the examples of these two different kinds of mutation separate.

* The diclonii in ''ElfenLied''.
** A particularly creepy example, given that after going through the motions of persecution and acceptance, [[spoiler:humanity exterminates them and this is [[EsotericHappyEnding considered a good thing]].]]
*** Well, as far as ThisTroper recalls [[spoiler: the Diclonii in fact ''were'' naturally hostile to normal humans, even if it was first played that they became that way due to social neglect and bullying. Not to mention they could not reproduce like normal humans but were sterile - and needed to "seed" humans to use as proxies.]]
**** Not fully correct: Diclonii were hostile towards living beings in general (it's a primal impulse), but can ''normally'' keep such impulses in check with some effort. It's just that humans's treatment of them doesn't give them much incentive, if any at all, to actually hold back.

* Gwen Raiden from {{Angel}} has extremely high voltage, and over the years has discovered interesting uses with her powers. For example, sticking her hand in a laser grid, and taking control of the lasers without setting off the alarm. She stands out as this trope because she lacks demonic heritage or magical training like most powered being in this universe, she just developed it naturally.
** There was also a character named Bethany who had telekinesis, but that might be considered a [[PsychicPower psychic power]] instead.

** Being a mutant is just grounds for immediate execution. The only exception being if you are a 'registered mutant' in which case you just have to wear a bright yellow ribbon at all times, and might as well have "scapegoat" tattoed on your head.

* The Sai, the decendants of the humans in the soon-to-be-released game {{Stormrise}} have mutated in order to adapt to the extreme conditions after a experiment to change the climate of earth by mankind went horribly wrong, resulting in the mother of all storms and turning most the earth uninhabitable.

** There are also some humans with minor mutations amongst the human populace. The Slags in Fallout 2 are a group of humans who took shelter in subterranean caves and when they returned to the surface, they found out that they bodies could't handle living on the outside. Your own character can get a sixth mutated toe by stepping on the radiated goo in the Toxic Caves without protective boots, but you can pay a doctor to amputate it. A man in Gecko was scorned in Vault City and eventually exiled himself because of the way he was mistreated for being very radiation resistant. In Fallout Tactics, one of the enemy groups you fight against is the group of tribals called "The Beastlords", a group of tribals mutated by radiation near the caverns where they lived, which gave those tribals the ability to mind-control most animals near them, except humans and deathclaws.

** Towards the end of ''Fallout 3'', it is heavily implied that '''everyone''' in the District of Columbia, with the exception of Enclave personell, has been mutated from radiation--but most of the mutations are so minor as to be unnoticable.

[[AC: WebOriginal]]
* [[NotUsingTheZedWord Psionics]] in ''TheDescendants'' are a corner case. While they're born for the most part in the present, it's stated that these mutations were kicked off generations ago by WWII era [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke experiments]].

* The DarkKnight comic had a massive teen gang called the Mutants terrifying Gotham. The leader was probably the only Mutant who was actually a mutant.
** This troper must cast doubt on even that. Nothing in the story suggests he was anything more than a sociopath with filed teeth.

* The preponderance of evidence suggests that Britain's ''Queen Victoria'' was a genuine mutant. Many of her descendents inherited the allele for hemophilia from her, yet neither of her parents' bloodlines carry this trait, indicating that a random genetic mutation made her a carrier for this disorder.
** ...that assumes that all of her official ancestors were her actual ancestors, of course
*** Or, that she wasn't [[DoctorWho bitten by a werewolf.]]

* Alex Mack the title heroine and protagonist from TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack is a mutate who got her powers from exposure to the AppliedPhlebonitum GC-161

* They have a popular saying about mutants in the universe of {{Warhammer 40000}}. Well, partly about mutants. It goes:
-->Burn the heretic, kill the mutant, purge the unclean!
** Althought he Imperium does make use of "abhumans."

* In ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' the Tyranids are fond of subtly (or not so subtly) mutating enemy races, and the Imperium Of Man is fond of [[KillItWithFire Killing Mutants With Fire]], when they aren't conscripted as cannon fodder.

** The Empire in ''{{Warhammer}}'' responds to mutations in much the same way as the Imperium in 40K.

* No human examples, but in the [[AfterTheEnd Acid Tokyo]] storyline of ''TsubasaReservoirChronicles'', they spend a fair portion of their time fighting hideous, deformed monsters whom the survivors identify as 'mutants.' How having the world destroyed by ''acid raid'' resulted in animals mutating into three-headed spitting snakes or carnivorous earthworms the size of semis is never really explained.

* This is, of course, the entire premise of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' franchise. Mutant StockSuperPowers in ''X-Men'' range from the technically feasible (HealingFactor) to the seriously unlikely (EyeBeams). [[FantasticRacism Discrimination]] against Mutants and by Mutants (some of whom believe that they, collectively, are [[EvolutionaryLevels a step above humanity]]) is one of the work's constant major themes.
** Mutants not associated with the X-Men include [[Comicbook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]], [[{{Runaways}} Molly Hayes]], [[{{Daredevil}} Typhoid Mary]], SpiderGirl, and Marvel Boy. They manage to avoid the stigma normally attached to mutants; either they're considered "proper" superheroes, or in Mary's case, the public fears her because she's a villain.
** Part of the reason for this is that Stan Lee was tired of making up/ran out of origin stories, then realized that he could justify virtually endless powers under the heading "mutant."
** Really? (EyeBeams) are the best "seriously unlikely" scenario you could think of? How about Controlling the Weather? Or better yet, [[RealityWarper altering friggin' reality]]?
*** yeah, reality warping is better than weather control in the list of seriously unlikley another extreme example is "transforming into lava or withstanding it or merging with volcanoes" and similiar transmutative powers where the mutant goes through chemical changes that are atomic or subatomic in nature. Why did Stan Lee tried to pass superpowers as scientifically explainable when magic would be less ridicolous?