History Main / NuclearMutant

* ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' has [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a grasshopper becoming a huge one]] thanks to a nuclear mutation.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' ParodyFic "The Killer Dame", the crew drive the Hirogen off the ship by irradiating Neelix's supply of [[AlienLunch dreaded leola root]], creating a giant rampaging leola root that even the Hirogen dare not eat. Then Neelix decides to start carving it up for food, making the crew wonder if they should invite the Hirogen back again.

When played straight, this is a case of ArtisticLicenseBiology. This becomes ''slightly'' more plausible if an organism is irradiated and its ''offspring'' are born as mutants, rather than some weird transformation happening to the irradiated organism itself. See also ToxicWasteCanDoAnything, RadiationImmuneMutants, a {{Required Secondary Power|s}} for some of these nasties. However, in most cases, high exposure to nuclear radiation usually results in death of most animals and humans (which makes post-apocalyptic nuclear war scenarios of fighting mutated creatures highly unrealistic). That being said, there have been several species that are able to adapt to nuclear radiation, as evident with Chernobyl where, although radiation levels are still lethal for most humans without adequate protection, several animals manage to survive with minimum or no mutations. In fact, the only major mutations they suffered were [[RadiationImmuneMutants adaptations to protect them against the ill effects of radiation]], such as higher levels of antioxidants and better DNA repair mechanisms. They even live longer because of it.

* For the ultimate real-world inversion of this trope, check out what [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has to say about ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans Deinococcus radiodurans]]''. It's a microorganism (so an inversion on the size front, as well as the radiation-effects front) capable of surviving radiation doses ''a thousand times greater'' than what's required to kill a human being. It's a pain in the ass for nuclear reactor operations since it can survive in places where life really shouldn't (like cooling pipes), and it also causes problems with radiation sterilization to preserve food long-term. Being resistant to a whole pile of other things as well, it's known in the world of microbiology as "[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan the]] [[{{Pun}} Bacterium]]".

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1662270221022942400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

* ''Film/{{Them}}'' is probably one of the most well known movies featuring this trope.

* The fangame ''VideoGame/PokemonUranium'' features a "Nuclear" elemental type that is basically this trope. Nuclear type Pokémon are typically found near failed nuclear power plants. For Nuclear counterparts of pre-existing species, the radiation has corrupted them and turned them hostile; repels don't work on them, and, if captured and used, they are disobedient like a high-level traded Pokémon. They are distinguished from their non-nuclear counterparts by a [[SicklyGreenGlow black and green color scheme]], as well as having unique [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation-based attacks]]. There are a handful of Nuclear types that lack a Non-Nuclear counterpart -- these are stable and can be captured and trained like a normal Pokémon without the obedience problems. Nuclear type attacks are super effective against everything except Steel and Nuclear, and Nuclear type Pokémon are weak to every type except Nuclear, making Nuclear type Pokémon {{Glass Cannon}}s in battle.

A sub-trope of RadiationInducedSuperpowers, Nuclear Nasty is a monster (usually the MonsterOfTheWeek) created when a creature is exposed to radiation. Very common in 1950s monster movies, as well as works trying to be throwbacks to that era for [[PhlebotinumDuJour obvious reasons]]. Tends to be an AttackOfThe50FootWhatever. These creatures are often common sights in a StandardPostApocalypticSetting.

A sub-trope of ILoveNuclearPower, Nuclear Nasty is a monster (usually the MonsterOfTheWeek) created when a creature is exposed to radiation. Very common in 1950s monster movies, as well as works trying to be throwbacks to that era for [[PhlebotinumDuJour obvious reasons]]. Tends to be an AttackOfThe50FootWhatever. These creatures are often common sights in a StandardPostApocalypticSetting.

** The [[Film/Godzilla2014 2014]] incarnation is the one subversion, as that Godzilla and the other giant monsters existed long before the Pacific nuclear tests, which were actually attempts to kill them. That said, Godzilla and the MUTOs were originally from a time when the world was intensely radioactive, and feed off radioactive material. [[spoiler:This presents a problem when the MUTOs steal a live nuclear warhead and use it in their nest at the heart of San Francisco...]]

** The [[Film/Godzilla2014 2014]] incarnation is the one subversion, as that Godzilla and the other giant monsters existed long before the Pacific nuclear tests, which were actually attempts to kill them. That said, Godzilla and the Mutos were originally from a time when the world was intensely radioactive, and feed off radioactive material. [[spoiler:This presents a problem when the Mutos steal a live nuclear warhead and use it in their nest at the heart of San Francisco...]]

* Creator/BertIGordon loved this, whether it's the giant grasshoppers from ''Film/BeginningOfTheEnd, Film/TheAmazingColossalMan'', ''Film/TheFoodOfTheGods'', the horrible cyclopic giant from ''Film/TheCyclops'', or the giant ants who mind control people by farting pheromones on them from ''Empire of theAnts''.

* Like their source novel above, ''VideoGame/Metro2033'' and ''[[VideoGame/MetroLastLight Last Light]]'' have multiple unpleasant types of mutants for Artyom to deal with.
* The [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Predecessor]] to ''VideoGame/Metro2033'', ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'', also has its share of nuclear nasties.

* ''The Last Days of Planet Earth'' a.k.a. ''Film/PropheciesOfNostradamus'' features a few creatures mutated by radiation in New Guinea -- carnivorous trees, poisonous leeches, flesh eating flying foxes (big ol' bats), and cancer-ridden human cannibals. The film also shows "softbodied humans"(severely mutated humans) at the very end. The last two depictions got it [[BannedInChina banned in Japan]] -- where it was made.

* Also from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse: Nuklo, the radioactive son of [[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel the Whizzer and Miss America]].

* In ''ComicBook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', Godzilla fights [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti a yeti]] which has been turned by nuclear radiation to match it in size and strength.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* There were quite a few radiation created monsters in Marvel's early monster comics, including a fairly adorable weed with mind-control powers and a ''[[CriticalResearchFailure scarecrow]]'' made giant and mobile by nuclear radiation.
* The Comicbook/IncredibleHulk and his gamma radiation-empowered friends and enemies would certainly qualify. At one end of the spectrum you've got lucky folks like Doc Samson and ComicBook/SheHulk, who just look like impossibly buff people with green hair or skin, and at the other end you've got freaks like the Harpy and the Abomination. Their degree of self-control after their mutation varies from one individual to the next, too. There have been gamma-mutant animals over the years, too, (mainly dogs), but they tend not to survive beyond a single issue.
* Nuklo, the radioactive son of The Whizzer and Miss America.

* The French comic ''Les eaux de Mortelune'' (''The waters of Deadmoon'') had mutant animals. Lyon is now inhabited by [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant flies]], Avignon by [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant termites]] and Les-Baux-de-Provence by [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant telepathic praying mantis]].

* Franquin's ''ComicBook/IdeesNoires'' has one comic about a talk-show debating over the dangers of nuclear energy. A woman calls them to claim that nuclear energy is perfectly harmless since her husband worked in a reactor for 10 years and is fit as a fiddle and that everybody opposing nuclear energy is either a hippy or a communist. [[spoiler:Turns out her husband and children are [[BodyHorror horribly mutated]] and she spouted lies just because "There ain't a reason that we should be the only ones in deep shit!"]]

* Played with in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon''. When Superman, who was raised in Soviet Ukraine, meets the Bizarro clone created by Lex Luthor, America's smartest scientist, for the first time, due to Bizarro and an American nuclear sub crossing territorial waters, Superman punches him, accidentally activating Bizarro's "telescopic x-ray vision." As a result, the submarine's crewmen get a severe case of radiation poisoning, and Superman comments: "birds became irradiated and dropped from the sky for fifty miles around."

* Creator/BertIGordon loved this, whether it's the giant grasshoppers from ''Film/BeginningOfTheEnd, Film/TheAmazingColossalMan'', ''Film/TheFoodOfTheGods'', the horrible cyclopic giant from ''Film/TheCyclops'', or the giant ants who mind control people by farting pheromones on them from ''Film/EmpireOfTheAnts''.
* Creator/RogerCorman also had quite a few of them, like The Beast who Brings Death With Its Touch from ''Film/TeenageCaveman'', the three-eyed; horned; big-nosed mutant from ''Film/TheDayTheWorldEnded'', the giant leeches from ''Film/AttackOfTheGiantLeeches'', and the titular creatures from ''Film/AttackOfTheCrabMonsters''.
* ''Film/TheIncredibleMeltingMan'', with an incredibly disgusting appearance done by Creator/RickBaker himself, who gets stronger as he melts ([[FridgeLogic How that works is anyone's guess]]). The movie started off as a parody, but the distributors wanted it to be a serious horror film and exorcised all of the comedy from the final cut.
* The B-movie ''Film/FromHellItCame'' featured a tree-man named Tabonga. [[http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article57.htm Head Injury Theater article here]].

* ''The Last Days of Planet Earth'' a.k.a. ''Film/PropheciesOfNostradamus'' features a few creatures mutated by radiation in New Guinea. Carnivorous Trees, poisonous leeches, flesh eating flying foxes (big ol' bats), and cancer-ridden human cannibals. The film also shows "softbodied humans"(severely mutated humans) at the very end. The last two depictions got it [[BannedInChina banned in Japan]]--where it was made.

* The original ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' includes a speculative {{handwave}} about radiation from a returning space probe to Venus causing the ZombieApocalypse. This explanation is discarded in the subsequent ''Dead'' films, however.
* The frog-people from ''Hell Comes To Frogtown'' are likely this, and they likely also have a few more ''exotic'' features, given the infamous [[ExoticEquipment "Dance of the Three Snakes"]] scene.

* ''Atomic Shark'' features [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a shark mutated by a nuclear submarine wreck]], leaving it covered with radiation burns, [[PowerGlow glowing red]], and emitting enough heat to cause things around it to burst into flames. It's also more or less a swimming one megaton nuclear bomb that will detonate if killed. Just to make things stupider, some fish that the shark passed nearby become irradiated also, are caught and served up at a seafood restaurant, and cause both the kitchen and a diner to explode.

* ''Literature/{{Metro 2033}}''. Looks like the heavily irradiated, post-nuclear Moscow became a gigantic nest of monsters, mutants and dinosaurs.
* In Creator/DavidDrake's short story "Men Like Us" a post-apocalyptic wanderer tells the people of a town that most of the stories about mutants were exaggerated. Babies with extra limbs or heads existed even before the bombs and even if there are more born now the wasteland has not been kind to them. Sure, there were dog-sized rats but they've mostly been wiped out. And Changelings? Men made immortal by the blasts despite being skeletonized in some cases? Don't be ridiculous. [[spoiler: Later they attempt to behead him, and his neck knits back together as they're pulling out the axe. And then his more conspicuous friends show up.]]

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Fluke man! More accurately called Tape man... Flukes and tapeworms are both flatworms, but flukes do not have scolexes. Tapeworms do. (But "tapeman" isn't nearly as cool sounding as "flukeman".)
* The Daleks in ''Series/DoctorWho'' were initially explained in "The Daleks" to be the result of a nuclear bomb detonated by the Thals in the distant past. They had locked themselves in metal travel machines to survive the radiation and over many years mutated into something else (although their experiements later reveal them to be a particularly extreme form of RadiationImmuneMutants - they aren't just unharmed by radiation, they ''need'' radiation to survive). Most of this was ignored in later appearances and they were completely{{Retcon}}ned in "Genesis of the Daleks" in the 1970s. Although given the appearance of the pepper pots, this may simply apply to the Thal mutated Daleks (Laths?) and come after the Kaled-Daleks.
* ''Series/UltraSeven'' featured two MonstersOfTheWeek with this theme.

* ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' had an episode where nuclear bombs lost in the Pacific Ocean ends up mutating a FishPerson called Ragon (previously seen in ''Series/UltraQ'') into a gigantic and violently insane creature. Worse still, an undetonated nuclear bomb is precariously dangling on Ragon's scales...

* ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}}'' has those cosy radioactive giant insects that eat you, instead of making you a super hero.

* ''[[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Promethean: The Created]]'' has the Zeka, nuclear Prometheans who have the ultimate in BlessedWithSuck. Not only do they suffer [[HatePlague Disquiet]], they spread ''fallout'' wherever they go, meaning they can rarely interact with humans and have a lot of trouble undertaking [[BecomeARealBoy the Pilgrimage]]. As a result, most of them go [[TheDarkSide Centimanus]], and hoo ''boy'', do they go Centimanus. Two NPC examples are Oleg Wormwood (an Eastern European arms dealer who longs to get his hands on a suitcase nuke and start some ''real'' fun) and Tsar Bomba (a hulking brute who seems content to just barge into nuclear power plants, subject the staff to a slow death, and bask in the radiation as the place starts to go critical). And that's not even starting on the [[CameBackWrong Carcinomas]]...

* Being inspired in part by 1950s sci-fi and taking place after a nuclear war, the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has a bunch of these. Mutated animals include [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant roaches, mantises, scorpions (including the fearsome Albino Radscorpion), flies, ants]], geckos, [[RodentsOfUnusualSize and rats (both the regular kind and Mole Rats the size of large bulldogs)]], monstrous bears with hairless skin covered in lesions and tumors, and [[MultipleHeadCase deer and cows with two heads]]. Shall we mention that tougher varieties can shrug off minigun bursts and high explosives? It's zigzagged in that, canonically, the mutations stem at least partially from a MutagenicGoo SyntheticPlague called the Forced Evolutionary Virus that the US Government cooked up before the war -- precisely how much each element is to blame is unclear, as there was a conflict between the creators over the matter.
** Ghouls are people who mutated from long term residual radiation (and maybe some [[MutagenicGoo FEV]] thrown in too) that allows them to absorb and even heal from it, specifically the Glowing Ones who see radiation as being "comfortably warm". Feral ghouls are ghouls that have lost their minds over the years as the higher functions of the brain is not preserved as well as the rest of the nervous system.

** Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds, Centaurs, [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Cazadors and Nightstalkers]] avert this, as the former three are created by the FEV[[note]]Forced Evolutionary Virus[[/note]] and the latter created by the morally bankrupt and insane scientists of Big Mountain, specifically Doctor[[note]][[ItMakesSenseInContext "Principal"]][[/note]] Borous. It's strongly implied that the [[BossInMookClothing Deathclaws]] fit into this category too, having originated as Jackson's Chameleons [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically engineered]] by first the pre-War US government and then the Master to serve as living weapons.

* The Spiritual Predecessor to ''VideoGame/Metro2033'', ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'', also has its share of nuclear nasties.

* The Fangame ''VideoGame/PokemonUranium'' features a "Nuclear" elemental type that is basically this trope. Nuclear type Pokémon are typically found near failed nuclear power plants. For Nuclear counterparts of pre-existing species, the radiation has corrupted them and turned them hostile; repels don't work on them, and, if captured and used, they are disobedient like a high-level traded Pokémon. They are distinguished from their non-nuclear counterparts by a [[SicklyGreenGlow black and green color scheme]], as well as having unique [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation-based attacks]]. There are a handful of Nuclear types that lack a Non-Nuclear counterpart--these are stable and can be captured and trained like a normal Pokémon without the obedience problems. Nuclear type attacks are super effective against everything except Steel and Nuclear, and Nuclear type Pokémon are weak to every type except Nuclear, making Nuclear type Pokémon {{Glass Cannon}}s in battle.

** In "The Vault" Finn's past life Shoko is turned into a giant, horrible monster after falling into a radioactive river. However, it seems as though the process also caused death by radiation poisoning shortly thereafter, so it mostly just gave her [[JacobMarleyApparel a different-looking ghost]].

* Putty-Thing and Fish-Guy from ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' are two teenagers who [[TooDumbToLive exposed themselves to radiation]] in hopes that they would turn into [[CaptainErsatz Insector the Bug-Man]], [[WhatAnIdiot but they both forgot the bug]]. Of course, it's all deliberately outrageous and PlayedForLaughs.

* There has been investigation into whether nuclear accidents like the {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} disaster have mutated animals over generations. [[AvertedTrope It didn't.]] In RealLife, this wouldn't be able to happen. The nuclear poisoning will kill any higher animal or at least give health problems. The children of given animals may have some abnormalities but usually not good. [[http://phys.org/news/2014-04-chernobyl-birds-ionising.html Scientists discovered]] that numerous species of birds that lives in the general area of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have actually thrived and adapted to the irradiated areas. They began creating more antioxidants that are needed to repel free radicals that would normally age the bird into a premature death.
* For the ultimate real-world inversion of this trope, check out what [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has to say about ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans Deinococcus radiodurans.]]'' It's a microorganism (so an inversion on the size front, as well as the radiation-effects front) capable of surviving radiation doses ''a thousand times greater'' than what's required to kill a human being. It's a pain in the ass for nuclear reactor operations since it can survive in places where life really shouldn't (like cooling pipes), and it also causes problems with radiation sterilization to preserve food long-term. Being resistant to a whole pile of other things as well, it's known in the world of microbiology as "[[{{Pun}} Conan the Bacterium]]".

A sub-trope of ILoveNuclearPower, Nuclear Nasty is a monster (usually the MonsterOfTheWeek) created when a creature is exposed to radiation. Very common in 1950s monster movies, as well as works trying to be throwbacks to that era for [[PhlebotinumDuJour obvious reasons.]] Tends to be an AttackOfThe50FootWhatever.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'''s fourth season, ''Revenge of the Island'' is full of these, as prior to the events of said season, Chris [=McLean=] rented Wawanakwa out as a toxic waste dump, causing the flora and fauna to mutate. [[spoiler:Even Dakota, one of the contestants, is turned into a monster after exposure to nuclear waste.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'''s fourth season, ''Revenge of the Island'' is full of these, as prior to the events of said season, Chris [=McLean=] rented Wawanakwa out as a toxic waste dump, causing the flora and fauna to mutate. [[spolier:Even Dakota, one of the contestants, is turned into a monster after exposure to nuclear waste.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'''s fourth season, ''Revenge of the Island'' is full of these, as prior to the events of said season, Chris McLean rented Wawanakwa out as a toxic waste dump, causing the flora and fauna to mutate. [[spolier: Even Dakota, one of the contestants, is turned into a monster after exposure to nuclear waste.]]

* Like their source novel above, ''[[VideoGame/Metro2033 Metro 2033]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MetroLastLight Last Light]]'' have multiple unpleasant types of mutants for Artyom to deal with.
* The Spiritual Predecessor to ''[[VideoGame/Metro2033 Metro 2033]]'', VideoGame/{{STALKER}}, also has its share of nuclear nasties.
* In ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'' the Torrasque strain is unlocked after some Ultralisks are hit directly with an experimental [[SlapOnTheWristNuke nuke]], and [[EvilutionaryBiologist Abathur]] incorporates the radiation into their genome.

* The Fangame ''VideoGame/PokemonUranium'' features a "Nuclear" elemental type that is basically this trope. Nuclear type Pokemon are typically found near failed nuclear power plants. For Nuclear counterparts of pre-existing species, the radiation has corrupted them and turned them hostile; repels don't work on them, and, if captured and used, they are disobedient like a high-level traded Pokemon. They are distinguished from their non-nuclear counterparts by a [[SicklyGreenGlow black and green color scheme]], as well as having unique [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation-based attacks]]. There are a handful of Nuclear types that lack a Non-Nuclear counterpart--these are stable and can be captured and trained like a normal Pokemon without the obedience problems. Nuclear type attacks are super effective against everything except Steel and Nuclear, and Nuclear type Pokemon are weak to every type except Nuclear, making Nuclear type Pokemon {{Glass Cannon}}s in battle.

When played straight, this is a case of ArtisticLicenseBiology. This becomes ''slightly'' more plausible if an organism is irradiated and its ''offspring'' are born as mutants, rather than some weird transformation happening to the irradiated organism itself. See also ToxicWasteCanDoAnything, RadiationImmuneMutants, a {{Required Secondary Power|s}} for some of these nasties. However, in most cases, high exposure to nuclear radiation usually results in death of most animals and humans (which makes post-apocalyptic nuclear war scenarios of fighting mutated creatures highly unrealistic). That being said, there have been several species that are able to adapt to nuclear radiation, as evident with Chernobyl where several animals manage to survive with minimum or no mutations (although radiation levels are still lethal for most humans without adequate protection).