History Main / Mutants

* The "Teddy Bear" breed of guinea pig, known for its thick bristly fur, was actually the result of a freak mutation. The same goes for skinny pigs, which are simply hairless guinea pigs.

* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' has [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Abnormals]], which seems to cover mutants and mutates.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':

** ''Literature/FoundationSeries'''s "Literature/TheMule": The reason the Mule's status as a mutant is so plot-significant is that several characters think that this may make him unpredictable by the [[PrescienceByAnalysis mathematics of Psychohistory]]. It's revealed near the climax that his mutation allows him to manipulate the minds and emotions of other characters.[[note]] His origin is retconned in ''Literature/FoundationsEdge'' to create the background for a new faction within the galaxy.[[/note]]

* The escapism inherent in this trope was subverted as early as 1954, in Creator/AlfredBester's short story ''5,271,009.'' Here, the main character is put in a LotusEaterMachine and experiences multiple juvenile fantasies, each of which is explained by "a mysterious mutant strain in his makeup that makes him different." On the other hand, the Espers (telepaths) of ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan'' fit the ''ComicBook/XMen'' version very closely, including the idea of classifying them according to different levels of superpower.

'''Shapeshifter (disguised as Dean):''' Maybe... evolution is about mutation, right? So maybe this thing was born human but was different, [[TheGrotesque hideous and hated]]... until he learned to become [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse someone else]].

* ''Literature/ThisAlienShore'': Humanity's first attempts at interstellar travel involved an FTL device called a Hausman drive that emitted radiation that mutated the colonists' germ cells, which they didn't realize until they'd reached their new planets and started having kids. For whatever reason, the inhabitants of each planet are affected differently - for example, everyone on the planet Guera has some sort of mental condition, the Salvationers have HandyFeet, and the Belials produce children in matched sets of two to six people who all share a name and a legal identity.

* ''Film/CrimesOfTheFuture2022'': Tenser, Brecken, [[spoiler:Lang]] and other humans are developing in totally different ways from the norm. In the case of Tenser, he's developing new organs (albeit non-functional ones) apparently ''through willing it''. Brecken, along with [[spoiler:Lang]] and others, are now able to subsist on plastic along with other things most humans can't, with a group that embraces these changes as the future of humanity's evolution. Many other regular humans though react to this with animus and even violence.

* Several mutants appear in ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' as deformed inhabitants of a Mars colony, born with deformities due to their colonist parents being forced to live in poorly made domes that didn't protect them from space radiations during the early stages of colonization. One of the most famous ones is probably the [[{{Multiboobage}} three-breasted prostitute]].

* In "Literature/ItsAGoodLife", Anthony's parents are normal humans, but Anthony is some kind of undescribed monster with RealityWarper powers. In [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E73ItsAGoodLife the adaptation in]] ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', he looks normal, but the story suggests that he looks quite inhuman -- he has a "purple gaze", an "odd shadow", and the doctor who delivered him tried to kill him after getting a good look at him.

* ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' has mutants all over the place due to [[AfterTheEnd strontium-90 fallout in the aftermath of a nuclear war]]. However, since this isn't America, only a tiny fraction of the mutates actually get powers -- most are just disfigured.

* In "Literature/ItsAGoodLife", Anthony's parents are normal humans, but Anthony is some kind of undescribed monster with RealityWarper powers. In the adaptation in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', he looks normal, but the story suggests that he looks quite inhuman -- he has a "purple gaze", an "odd shadow", and the doctor who delivered him tried to kill him after getting a good look at him.

* ''The Mutant Files'' by William C. Dietz takes place after a global incident similar to ''Film/TwelveMonkeys''. An Islamist terrorist infiltrates his followers throughout the globe and when the time came, they release a genetically engineered virus into the world. It killed large numbers of humanity and of the few that survived, they'd mutate with many gross deformities and no advantages, worse yet these mutations became hereditary leading to reservations for the mutants. The X-Men, this series is not.

* ''Literature/AppointmentWithFear'' has the Silver Crusader who was born a mutant when his scientist parents experimented on themselves before his conception. The villain Master Mind was born through a similar experiment which gave his powerful telepathy and intellect.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'': Geralt and all the other witches were created through a combination of surgery and mutagenic potions. In-game, several times he may be talked to derisively by some angry elf or dwarf, Geralt simply tells them that he's not human he's a mutant.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSnail'' from [=QCplay=] Limited has Super Snail himself. He's already a nearly human-sized snail in 2033 A.D., so he's either a mutant or mutate to start but even before he has his first fight, he consumes some cells from a Demon God and mutates to grow a large pair of fangs and rodent-like teeth. Additionally he can makes friends with a ninja Turtle mutate and that mutated thing from the movie ''Film/TheHost2006''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Biomutant}}'' is set in a far future where pollution has driven humans to leave the planet, what's left are eons of mutant animals and terrible monstrous beings from all those generations of mutating DNA.

* ''VideoGame/DUSK12'' has mutants as recurring enemies, depicted as skinny, hunchback humanoids who can only make hissing noises while clawing at you mindlessly. They ''used'' to be humans, until a viral strain leakage from 2028 turns them into the creatures you're fighting.

** Fang is a mutant shark with human level intelligence, two legs, two arms, and the ability to survive outside of the water. He is a recurring threat to the campers and one of few mutants not to take up residence in the Fun Zone.

** In "[[Recap/TotalDramaAMineIsATerribleThingToWaste A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste]]", Dakota is sent into a radioactive mine to test the area for safety. She stays for forty minutes, blacks out at some point, and gets retrieved by the other interns. She loses her hair before she even comes to and about a day after, in "[[Recap/TotalDramaTheTreasureIslandOfDrMcLean The Treasure Island of Doctor McLean]]", becomes a little bigger, a little stronger a little spikier, and a little more prone to HulkSpeak every time she experiences a burst of anger. Her final form is powerful, inhumanly tall, and in the possesion of green spiked hair, orange skin, red eyes, and a tail. She comes to like her new self and makes a career out of it, being one of the few mutants not to make the Fun Zone their home.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': At least a year has passed between ''Island'' and ''Revenge of the Island'' and in that time Chris has agreed to let Camp Wawanakwa be used as dumping ground for toxic waste. As a result, flora and fauna alike have mutated and for the duration of ''Revenge of the Island'' mutation is a fate that can befall anyone on the island. After the season, the island gets cleaned up and all the mutants are brought over to a nature reserve on Boney Island known as the Fun Zone.

** ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' features [[TheGrotesque Maggie]], a young mutant girl with a skull-like face. Her [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent outlook]] is contrasted with the violent attitudes of anti-mutant humans.

->''"Of course.'' Mutants are best equipped to deal with the world today. ''Who else? THE GHOULS? Please. NORMALS? They brought nuclear death to us all. This will be the age of Mutants!'' '''Mutants.'''"''

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->''"Of course.'' Mutants are best equipped to deal with the world today. ''Who else? THE GHOULS? Please. NORMALS? They brought nuclear death to us all. This will be the age of Mutants!'' '''Mutants."'''
-->--'''The Master''', ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''

Mutants in fiction follow this same basic idea (though normally portrayed in [[MagicGenetics biologically implausible or impossible]] ways), but have a much wider variety of phenotype effects than RealLife mutations because of HollywoodEvolution. Fictional mutants are often {{Super Hero}}es, because "mutation" is a [[MetaOrigin very easy way]] to get multiple [[StockSuperpowersIndex power sets]] from a single SuperHeroOrigin (this is why ''ComicBook/XMen'', the first major comic to have lots of characters introduced all at once, starred a group of mutants). Just as often, humans or other animals are mutated somehow into [[PowerUpgradingDeformation hideous]] AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters for the heroes to fight, or [[TheGrotesque pitiful misunderstood freaks]]. Because even low levels of radiation can be deadly with prolonged exposure, it's common for stories to have RadiationImmuneMutants who can survive, thrive on, or ''require'' radiation to live.

May overlap with EvolutionaryLevels if the mutants are "[[TranshumanTreachery superior]]" to mankind. A type of SuperHeroOrigin. Very frequent targets for FantasticRacism. Outside the superhero genre, mutants are most often encountered AfterTheEnd.

* The Eldians, aka the Subjects of Ymir, in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' are, in absolutely all other respects, ordinary human beings. However, they're also the only race in the world who have the ability to transform into Titans, which happens whenever their bodies absorb Titan cerebrospinal fluid. Their ability also doesn't correspond to the traditional laws of biology; not only is the Eldian ability passed on to all descendants without dilution (unless the other races of the world are more "Eldian" than they care to admit), but the Founding Titan has the ability to remake the biology of all Eldians simultaneously, which was done at one point to grant them immunity to a plague.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall''

* Any ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' character or clan that has a "[[SuperpowerfulGenetics bloodline trait]]", such as the Uchiha clan and their Sharingan. At least, at first, the final arc in Shippuden suggests that all kekkai genkai are all specific residual traits inherited from a common ancestor, [[HalfHumanHybrid who was an alien]].

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has the emergence of the NEXT 45 years ago. A mutation occured for in humans which led to certain people having super powers.
* The [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] race in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' have the same appearance as humans. The only difference between ghouls and humans is that ghouls are born with superhuman abilities and a [[HorrorHunger hunger for human flesh]]. '''Only''' human flesh and nothing else. Humans are afraid of getting killed and eaten by ghouls just as ghouls are afraid of getting hunted and killed or contained by humans.

** Mano, one of the members of the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes villains the Fatal Five, is one of the few metahumans explicitly mentioned as being a mutant, having been born with the ability to disintegrate anything he touched with his right hand. Notably, however, Mano is not human, but an ''alien'' mutant. As a response to the mistreatment that he received because of his mutation, Mano became a monster and used his anti-matter touch to destroy his own homeworld, afterward plaguing the galaxy at large.
** Another mutant from the ''Legion'' books is the hero Ferro Lad (or just Ferro, in the post-ComicBook/{{Zero Hour|CrisisInTime}} version), who has the power to turn his body into steel.

** From ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'''s rogue gallery is Killer Croc, who was originally conceived as just an unusually large and strong man with a skin condition not unlike epidermolytic hyperkeratosis, giving him a scaly, crocodile-like hide. Then, [[DependingOnTheArtist later artists]] and [[DependingOnTheWriter writers]] portrayed him with a bunch of other reptilian/crocodile-like traits such as the ability to stay underwater for long periods, a pronounced snout, reptilian eyes, an atavistic mindset, and sometimes even a tail. At least one writer has explained this as a a mutation in his disease (and possibly a [[MetaOrigin metagene]]) that was further worsened by [[ComicBook/BatmanHush Hush]] infecting him with a mutagenic virus. The end result is the crocodilian monster we all know and love.
** Also from the ''Batman'' comics is [[LegacyCharacter the fifth Clayface]], Cassius Payne. He's the only Clayface born with his condition, being [[SuperpowerfulGenetics the product of two clay mutations marrying]].
** ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' has a massive teen gang called the Mutants terrifying Gotham. The leader is probably the only Mutant who might actually be a mutant. Well, that or a plain old sociopath with filed teeth.
* An issue of the classic Creator/ECComics horror/sci-fi anthology series ''Weird Science'' (not [[Film/WeirdScience that one]]) had a story titled "The Loathsome" about a [[TheGrotesque badly deformed]] little girl being raised in an orphanage. Her father, a US Navy sailor, had his own DNA damaged by exposure to radiation during an atom bomb test in the Pacific just prior to returning home and fathering her. A military doctor convinced him to give up the infant and tell his wife the child had died shortly after birth. The girl had no superpowers and certainly wasn't evil, but was treated as a monster by her caretakers and the other orphans because of her severe physical deformities. The story was AnAesop (a heart-wrenchingly tragic one) about the perils of nuclear weapons and mistreatment of people who are "different." You can read it [[http://weirdsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2010/07/loathsome.html here]].
* ''Ex-Mutants'' from Eternity Comics features future humans reduced to becoming deformed mutants as a result of a prior nuclear war. Fortunately a three-eyed scientist was able to genetically resequence a group of young mutants into humans of peak physical ability and these Ex-Mutants were to spread hope for a return of humanity.

** As noted above, ''ComicBook/XMen'' is effectively the TropeMaker for mutants as a SuperHeroOrigin. As time went on and the writers felt the need to justify superpowers as a mutation, [[EvolutionaryLevels they tried to tie things into evolution]], and then things got... [[HollywoodEvolution screwy]].
** Creator/WarrenEllis' run of ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'' introduces Kaga, an elderly Japanese man born after the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki who describes himself as a "textbook mutant", i.e., the type that occurs in real life. Because his mutations are caused by genetic damage from nuclear radiation rather than the [[MagicGenetics X-Gene]], he has no superpowers, only deformities that leave him unable to walk, disfigure half of his face, and give him [[ExtraDigits ten fingers on his right hand]]. Kaga is thus a {{deconstruct|edTrope}}ion of the common portrayal of mutation giving people superpowers, and has a murderous hatred of the X-Men, who despite their ([[AllOfTheOtherReindeer not incorrect]]) reputation as outcasts are nonetheless made up of [[CursedWithAwesome athletic, attractive people born with superpowers]] rather than disfiguring and debilitating mutations.
** Early ''X-Men'' comics implied, and it was later confirmed, that Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner is a mutant, in addition to being a cross-breed between humans and Atlanteans. This explains his ankle wings that allow him to fly, as well as his enormous strength.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] is a mutant [[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternal]] born with an appearance similar to that of the monstrous Deviants. That same mutation is also why he is considerably more powerful than the average Titanian Eternal.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': While the Marvel aspects are primarily based on the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, it includes considerable elements of mainstream comics canon, mutants among them, including most of the classic X-Men (in sometimes slightly altered forms), as well as Wanda Maximoff, Peter Wisdom [[spoiler:(a.k.a. Regulus Black, making him a wizard too)]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] (referred to for most of the first book as TheDreaded -- for good reason). Harry himself is one, via his maternal grandmother, who was the sister of Jean Grey's grandmother, underlining his status as a HeinzHybrid. That said, it is implied that his mutation and Asgardian abilities will clash in the form of a brain hemorrhage.

** The Morlocks are also referenced.

* ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'' is a ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''/''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' crossover, so naturally there're mutants. Superman's existence baffles [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] because Magnus mistakes him for a mutant, but can't understand why Superman's so powerful or has so many different powers.

--> There is a school for mutants, called Whateley Academy, which has the facilities and teachers you'll need.~\\

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', the EliteMooks born from [[EvilSorcerer Shamuhaza's]] [[PlayingWithSyringes experiments]] are also known as mutants. They can be of any fantasy race [[EldritchTransformation transformed]] into [[PowerUpgradingDeformation hideous]] husks with little sanity left, or the result of FaceFullOfAlienWingWong.
* ''FanFic/OriginStory'' is set in the Marvel Universe, so yes, there are mutants. The most notable one is Louise Fulford, the main character's LoveInterest. Her mutant power, the ability to change her hair color (all her hair, not just the stuff on her head) to any shade or combination of shades she wishes) is less than overwhelming.

* The telepathic mutants in ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes''.

* The film ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' tells the story of a troupe of sideshow performers with a number of rare disabilities. Most of the acts featured in the movie (and in their sideshow acts) focus on how they function in their day-to-day lives, such as Frances O'Connor eating her dinner with a knife and fork or knitting despite not having arms, Johnny Eck walking without legs, and Prince Randian lighting and smoking a cigarette when he doesn't have limbs at all. [[DisabledCharacterDisabledActor The stars of this movie had the same disabilities as their characters]], and like their characters, they led pretty contented lives and saw TheFreakshow as merely a way to make a living.

* The escapism inherent in this trope was subverted as early as 1954, in Creator/AlfredBester's short story ''5,271,009.'' Here, the main character is put in a LotusEaterMachine and experiences multiple juvenile fantasies, each of which is explained by "a mysterious mutant strain in his makeup that makes him different." On the other hand, the Espers (telepaths) of ''Literature/TheDemolishedMan'' fit the ''ComicBook/XMen'' version very closely, including the idea of classifying them according to different levels of super power.

* In Creator/RichardMatheson's short story ''Born of Man and Woman'', the protagonist is a [[TheGrotesque deformed child]] born to normal human parents [[AbusiveParents who are disgusted by him]] and [[MadwomanInTheAttic keep him locked in their basement]]. The end of the story reveals that his deformities are much more extensive then the reader had been led to believe, including multiple limbs, wall-climbing and green blood.
* ''Literature/TheChrysalids'' by Creator/JohnWyndham features a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic society]] where mutants are a common occurrence. However, seeing as it's a CrapsackWorld, they're immediately exiled or killed on discovery.

* Creator/EdmondHamilton's story ''He That Hath Wings'' features a mutant born after his mother was [[LightningCanDoAnything hit with electricity]] (there is a long explanation fitting firmly into the ScienceMarchesOn area). The child is born a WingedHumanoid, a rather obvious inspiration to the [[ComicBook/XMen Angel]]. Unfortunately, another thing the Angel seems to have inherited is a tendency toward tragic biography.
* In ''Literature/TheInfected'' they're called, well, Infected. Otherwise, the trope is played dead straight like the ComicBook/XMen. Several times people have to reiterate that the Infected aren't contagious or anything, that's just the name that stuck when medical science was trying to decide what to make of them.
* Played very darkly in the metatextual post-apocalyptic novel ''Literature/TheIronDream'', where mutants are used as a metaphor for how fascists (specifically, [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]]) view other races than their own.

* ''The Mutant Files'' by William C Dietz takes place after a global incident similar to ''Film/TwelveMonkeys''. An Islamist terrorist infiltrates his followers throughout the globe and when the time came, they release a genetically-engineered virus into the world. It killed large numbers of humanity and of the few that survived, they'd mutate with many gross deformities and no advantages, worse yet these mutations became hereditary leading to reservations for the mutants. The X-Men, this series is not.

* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' used to feature a Mutant Corps (with generally PsychicPowers) especially in the early series, when they were one of Earth's few trump cards against a militarily superior universe. Over time, attrition took its toll (especially when the first-generation immortality AppliedPhlebotinum became unavailable and the replacement was sharply limited in supply) and various countermeasures were introduced, but the few remaining mutants stayed on as main characters for a long time and occasionally a new one or two would show up. More recently, a wave of mostly teenage mutants appeared that could trace their origin back to mass genetic engineering on a particular colony world during the latest dark age of the galaxy; these were, however, also afflicted with a deliberate genetic flaw that would eventually trigger and kill them, and the eventual cure had the side effect of removing their powers as well.

* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' actually uses mutants correctly: instead of superpowers, you get horrible deformities! Barrayar became a LostColony for a while after the [[HyperspaceLanes wormhole nexus]] connecting them to the wider galaxy was disrupted somehow, well before they had a large enough population to avoid problems with inbreeding, and then a neighboring power with territorial ambitions made matters worse by dropping a bunch of nukes on them. The resulting cultural stigma against any kind of deformity -- even non-hereditary ones like a cleft lip, or what happened to Miles in utero -- is something they're still along way from moving past for most of the series.

* [[ShockAndAwe Gwen Raiden]] from ''Series/{{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 beings in this universe; she just developed the ability naturally. (Though the source of her power is never really examined and could in fact be supernaturally based. All that's really known is she gets struck by lightning a lot.)
** There was also a character named Bethany who had telekinesis, but that might be considered a {{Psychic Power|s}} instead. Again, precisely where the power comes from is not explained, but it's only present in people who suffer severe trauma.

** In an episode, a group of terrorists trying to blow up an antimatter-fueled power station on Earth includes a mutant henchman with the ability to [[{{Intangibility}} go de-solid]] (and thus could make himself immune to attacks at will). Their plot is defeated because the henchman makes a HeelFaceTurn because he ''will not permit'' another planet to suffer the same fate as his own world, where everyone not only has powers, but also hideous deformities from the effects of a similar event in the past. (This somewhat misses the point, as most of Earth is populated only by radiation-damaged beings anyway, according to the pilot.)

* The Daleks of ''Series/DoctorWho''. And apparently the Thals, although they seem to have recovered by the start of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Dead Planet]]".
-->'''Alydon:''' ''[speaking of the Daleks]'' If they call us mutations... what must they be like?
** The Thals are an interesting {{subver|tedTrope}}sion. They initially mutated into creatures similar to the Daleks, but where the Daleks "stabilized" and stopped mutating the Thals continued, eventually coming full circle, mutating back into basically their original form.

** The Third Doctor story entitled "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E4TheMutants The Mutants]]" turns out to be an aversion. The supposedly mutant Solonians are in fact undergoing a natural metamorphosis as part of their life cycle. What's more, the insect-like "mutant" form is merely an intermediate stage, and the final form is a powerful, godlike being.

* ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'': In the year 3000, Mutants are a species of mostly inhuman-looking creatures created from the leftovers of a DesignerBabies program. They are hated and feared by humans due to their differences, resulting in several of them turning to crime.
* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' has Abnormals, which seems to cover mutants and mutates.
* In ''Series/StrangerThings'' TheReveal of Season 4 is that BigBad [[spoiler: Henry Creel aka One aka Vecna is a mutant. Unlike Eleven who [[BioAugmentation artificially]] gained her PsychicPowers through hallucinogenic drugs while in utero during her mother's time as a government test subject, Henry (as terrifying as it is comprehend) was born naturally with psychic powers and actually used by Dr Brenner to help give Eleven and the rest children their powers as the template. Unfortunately being an EnfantTerrible, Henry used his abilities abhorrently and by the time he was an adult and free of his PowerNullifier, [[BewareTheSuperman Henry planned to subjugate humanity]] before being defeated and banished to the Upside Down by Eleven.]]
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' regularly featured these as the MonsterOfTheWeek, including the liver-eating Eugene Victor Tooms from "[[Recap/TheXFilesS01E03Squeeze Squeeze]]" and "[[Recap/TheXFilesS01E21Tooms Tooms]]", among numerous others.

[[folder:Pinball]]
* A staple in Creator/DataEastPinball's ''Pinball/TalesFromTheCrypt''

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/DimensionX'': In [[Recap/DimensionX31Universe episode thirty-one]], an [[AudioAdaptation adaptation]] of Creator/RobertAHeinlein's "{{Literature/Universe}}", a race of Mutants lives on the Upper Levels of the Ship. Those on the Lower Levels fear and despise them because of their deformities. For instance, their leader Gregory has a malformed leg and Bobo [[TheUnintelligible has been mute since birth]]. The Mutants are believed to be [[TheMorlocks descended from the followers of the mutineer Huff]], the most hated name in their [[CreationMyth mythology]] as he opposed their god Jordan. It is unclear whether or not this is true.
[[/folder]]

* There's mutants in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' too. Mutants come in two main flavors, the bioengineered people created by the Solars in the First Age and the humans and creatures exposed to the Wyld at the edge of the world. The first are somewhat rational, physically predictable, and still human in their way of thinking, the second... can vary widely in sanity and form.
** Oh, and there are people whose bodies are twisted by power places like demesnes or the fact they have inhuman ancestry from gods, demons, and other creatures...
* ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' had an AfterTheEnd setting with mutated humans, animals, and plants.
* ''TabletopGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' is about being in the Marvel universe during the '80s and '90s, the time when the company's most popular comics were the X-Men related titles. So mutants were constantly born and grew up to become superheroes or villains.
* ''Mutant'' and ''Mutant Space'' were Swedish roleplaying games that spawned the ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'' universe (despite the name, MC is not about mutants).
** However, ''Mutant'' has been re-released several times afterwards, the latest being ''[[TabletopGame/MutantYearZero Mutant: Year Zero]]'' in 2015. It is, after all, Sweden's third or second-largest domestic tabletop game. And for any reader who is confused; ''Mutant'' is not about mutants, but they sure as h*ll are an important part of it.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'', Mutants tie with Commies and Traitors for the greatest threat to Alpha Complex. In fact, if you are a Mutant, you probably are a Commie Traitor as well. Unfortunately, '''every''' PlayerCharacter is a mutant. Please report to the nearest Execution Center, citizen.
** 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" tattooed on your head.
** Unless you have the Machine Empathy mutation[[note]]which allows the possessor to influence and control any robotics or computers, up to and including THE Computer[[/note]]. This is considered a Very Bad Thing ([[TradeSnark ™]]). Registered or not, Please stand by, Citizen, A helpful squad of Vulture Troopers are en route, and will be sure to kill you DeaderThanDead in on a short few minutes. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation and have a nice day. Please enjoy a nice Bouncy Bubble Beverage just before your gruesome death.
* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' Bloodlines are a form of mutation. Upon reaching a certain level of power, Vampires can fundamentally alter their blood to become a new Bloodline (a subspecies of Vampire)... but the only real catalyst for this is a large expenditure of willpower and the sufficiently potent blood. More than a few Bloodlines have emerged accidentally, or as the result of the Founder surviving a nasty curse.

** Mutants are a major problem in the [[TheEmpire Imperium of Man]]. Some sages believe that [[HumansArePsychicInTheFuture humanity is approaching]] [[EvolutionaryLevels a new stage of its evolution]], but the danger is when mutations result in PsychicPowers, since even a single untrained psyker risks inviting an invasion by the LegionsOfHell, and since random mutant births in the populace are a good sign of Chaos corruption. Most worlds have mutant populations that are at best treated as highly disposable slave labor or CannonFodder, or at worst are burned at the stake as perversions of the divine human form. However, some strains of mutants, mostly ones arising from natural causes (natural selection, chemical mutagens, radiation, etc.) rather than from the taint of Chaos, have stabilized into subraces the Imperium tolerates as "abhumans," most notably [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogryns]] and [[{{Hobbits}} Ratlings]], who serve specialized roles in the Imperial Guard, and the psychic [[TelepathicSpacemen Navigator]] caste that is required for [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Warp]] travel.
** The always evolving [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] have mutants as well. Old One Eye was a particularly tough Carnifex [[HumanPopsicle defrosted]] decades after the rest of its Hive Fleet was defeated, and its regenerative abilities have been seen in modern Carnifexes, suggesting that its mutation was approved and adopted by later Hive Fleets. The Genestealers of Ymgarl, on the other hand, are thought to be the remnant of a pre-Imperium invasion force, and though they've fought alongside later Hive Fleets, the Hive Mind seems to be leery of absorbing their genetic material -- these 'stealers are so unstable that they will mutate ''during combat''. Their absence in the latest Tyranid codex suggests that the Hive Mind wrote them off as a failure.

* ''Acid Rain World'' is a Hong Kong-based toy line set in a dystopian future where nukes were used and surviving city states compensated by cranking up industrial output. So between the resulting pollution and radioactivity, humanity's genetic code took a beating and so a lot of people got mutated (with many often opting to replace mutated limbs with bionics). Those who were too heavily mutated would band together in tribes, so resulting generations commonly had mutants born.

* In the CYOA-style gamebook series ''A Road Less Traveled'' from ''Greek Winter Media'', it's a post-apocalypse future where the results of the nukes are two types of mutants. Mutts are just ugly and physically twisted mutants, though they are a danger in the wastelands as they congregate in large numbers. Anyone can become a mutt if they received enough radiation. The other type of mutant are the Shapers, these mutants are indistinguishable from normal humans, except they manipulate energy and may have psionics too (depends on breeding). Your character is a latent Shaper who has telepathy and electricity manipulation.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/SaGaRPG Final Fantasy Legend]]'' trilogy, mutants ("espers" in Japanese) are one of the playable races. In the first and second games, they randomly gain or lose traits after battles.

* ''Project Clean Earth'': Takes place after a nuclear war, animals and humans are born as monstrous mutants which ended human civilization on Earth. A group of untouched scientists living on a satellite send in their unique robot warrior Bernard to purge the Earth of mutants.

* ''VideoGame/UFOAftershock'': There are two races, the Cyborgs and the Psionics, who are humans who were born with special abilities due to a genetic mutation caused by the Biomass. The Cyborgs' mutation allowed them to [[{{Cyborg}} graft robotic implants onto themselves easily]], while the Psionics developed PsychicPowers.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' a {{unicorn}} mare was exposed to strange pollution, and her offspring grew into Generictown's resident {{Kaiju}}, [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/348 Unigar the Vast Unicorn]].
** And the [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster]] is a 65-million-year-old mutant newt.

* The Zoanoids from the ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' franchise.
* Anyone that has ever eaten a Devil Fruit in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Unfortunately, [[SuperDrowningSkills they're no longer able to swim]].
* Ken Kaneki is different from all other [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]] from ''Manga/TokyoGhoul''. Only difference is he wasn't born a ghoul; he became one by being experimented on after an accident.

** ComicBook/SpiderMan originally got his powers when the bite of a radioactive/[[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan genetically-altered]] spider altered his genes.
** Spider-Man's rogues gallery is full of these: Dr. Connors tried to use a serum to give himself the regeneration ability of reptiles to regain his missing arm, turning himself into the Lizard. Morbius combined himself with the DNA of a vampire bat which turned him into a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent living pseudo-vampire]]. Black Cat was injected with SuperSerum. The combination of exposure to underwater gases, radiation and seawater turned Morris Bench into Hydro-Man. Miles Warren injected himself with several experimental serums to make himself stronger and faster, becoming the Jackal. William Baker was at the beach when the military dropped a nuclear bomb there and became the Sandman. [=MacDonald=] Gargan was experimented on with radiation and genetic transfusions and took on the name Scorpion.
** ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'' featured Batwing, who was originally a prepubescent boy. When he got lost in the Carlsbad Caverns and drank water polluted from illegal chemical dumping, he turned into a [[BatPeople giant flying bat-creature]].
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in Franchise/TheDCU. While there are some straight-up mutates, [[MetaOrigin many superheroes (and villains) were later]] retconned to have something called a "Metagene", which grants superpowers under a moment of [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening intense psychological stress]].
** One ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story, very likely as a TakeThat against Marvel, features [[TheFantasticFaux a group of four people who get exposed to space-radiation]]. They mutate and get superpowers alright. All of them end up becoming unbalanced and eventually commit suicide (aside from their leader who becomes the villainous Cyborg Superman) because radiation is dangerous.

* In ''Blog/ThePreDespairKids'', [[OriginalCharacter Kyoji]] [[TheMedic Nakamura]] performed gene therapy ''[[ProfessorGuineaPig on himself]]'' in order to help combat the despairs. This gave him [[SpareBodyParts multiple redundant organs]], [[SuperSenses enhanced vision]], [[MadeOfIron greater durability]], a BladeBelowTheShoulder, WallCrawl, and a few others he's kept secret.

* The film ''Film/TheAlligatorPeople'' has... well, a man whose genes got mixed with an alligator [[NuclearMutant due to radiation]].

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, Rodan, King Ghidorah (The 90s version at least), [[Film/GodzillaVsBiollante Biollante]], or nearly every single [[{{Kaiju}} giant monster]] applies here.
* The apocalyptic film ''Film/PropheciesOfNostradamus'' features several mutates (and a few mutants as well) of varying stripes. One of the most frightening is a group of irradiated humans who become arboreal cannibals covered with cancerous sores.

* Probably the UrExample is Creator/HGWells' ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'' is about a scientist turning animals into anthropoid creatures using vivisection.

* The titular mutants (or mutts) from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E4TheMutants The Mutants]]". In this case, the mutations turn out to be universal, and the effect of the planet in question moving into Summer.
* Although many of the characters are mutants, many characters of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' get their powers from being injected with a gene-altering formula.

* Alex Mack, the title heroine and protagonist from ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'', is a mutant who got her powers from exposure to the AppliedPhlebotinum GC-161.
* ''Series/Space1999'': In " Mission of the Darians", our heroes investigate a GenerationShip whose crew have split into warring factions after a radiation accident. There are mutants, who look like mute dwarfs, and a primitive tribe that hunts them down and executes them, including a hapless RedShirt from Moonbase Alpha who just happens to have a missing fingertip.

[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* In ''Literature/FightingFantasy'', mutants are a result of exposure to large quantities of dark magic such as those released in the historical War of the Wizards. Mutants are also a result of horrific experiments by {{Evil Sorcerer}}s and {{Mad Scientist}}s.
* ''Creator/GamesWorkshop'' had a number of gamebooks based in the ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' settings. With the presence of Chaos in these books, encountering mutated foes is practically a given.
[[/folder]]

* In Creator/GamesWorkshop's ''Chainsaw Warrior'', the cyborg SuperSoldier has to banish [[MadeOfEvil the Darkness]] from New York. Unfortunately the Darkness has a corrupting effect on its surroundings leading to the inhabitants of that apartment block turning into zombies and mutants. Worse for the Chainsaw Warrior, these creatures exude a venom on contact. The venom builds up in his system and if it overcomes his endurance, then he'll turn into a mutant himself.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls']] prodigious HealingFactor can react weirdly to different stimuli. "Troll mutates" have been exposed to the corrupting nature of the [[EldritchLocation Far Realm]], and sport BodyHorror like exposed internal organs and vestigial limbs -- when damaged in combat, they mutate even further as they heal damage, sprouting extra heads, arms or wings, which might be functional. In other cases, damage from large amounts of a particular substance or energy might mutate trolls accordingly, creating [[PoisonousPerson noxious]] venom trolls, spirit trolls that exist as [[{{Intangibility}} purely psionic entities]], or rot trolls that emanate a field of [[MakeThemRot degenerative necrotic energy]].
* Wyld mutants in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''. The Wyld is [[WorldGoneMad pure chaos and change]]. Over-exposure to it -- or, in many cases, ''any'' exposure to it -- can cause both the flesh and mind to warp in bizarre ways, and after a certain amount of mutation, often the [[WasOnceAMan former person]] can no longer live outside of the Wyld.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' the Martian city Y'Therthl engages in rituals based around their ancient genetic engineering machines at the birth of every child. A few come out of it worse off than when they went in.

* Studio Nanafushi's ''Dead or School'' has a post-apocalyptic Japan where people have been mutated by an unknown virus into zombie-like mooks and huge monstrosities. So many were created that the mutants would drive the remaining humans deep underground for 78 years. The virus didn't just infect humans, animals and plants were also affected -- this ranged from the harmless such as edible fish sprouting legs and vegetables developing eyes to far more dangerous creatures such as venom-spitting plants and GiantSpiders of various sizes and abilities.
* ''VideoGame/DemolishFist'' have you investigating the Metheusalah Corporation, only to find out they specialize in creating genetic abominations with several of their mooks being genetically-modified mutant monsters, from the blobby "Mango"-class mooks to the {{Kevlard}}-packed overweight "Butcher" enemies.

* ''Digimon Linkz'' features several Digimon that have been mutated by Volcanicdramon's data, turning them into {{Palette Swap}}s of themselves and removing one of their elemental weaknesses. Among them are at least one form of each of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Seven Great Demon Lords]].

** The Master, the main villain of the [[VideoGame/Fallout1 first game]], is also a mutate, a former scientist who fell into a vat of FEV and was left to soak in it rather than mutating through brief exposure. The result was a massive BodyHorror abomination of liquid flesh with incredible PsychicPowers and VoiceOfTheLegion whose living flesh covers the bottom part of his base.

* ''Giant Bear Rampage'' has you controlling a bear mutated into a giant monster after being exposed to {{toxic waste|CanDoAnything}}.

* Just like the stories of Michael Moorcock, in ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'', sorcery of the Chaos realm can induce a permanent mutation on a unit (one out of 3 possible mutations, including breathing fire), changing it from it from its original race type to becoming a creature of Chaos. The two spells that does this are Chaos Channels and Doom Mastery.

* In Digital Dreams's ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague'', a spiritual successor to the Mutant League games by Creator/ElectronicArts, the teams include orcs, demons, aliens, robots and etc. The mutant part of the league is from players of the Mutated Humans race who got their mutations from environmental exposure.

* The Zerg in ''Franchise/StarCraft'' mutate captured samples of enemy races to [[TheCorruption assimilate them]] into The Swarm. Most notable in the game is their assimilation and alteration of future BigBad Sarah Kerrigan.

* ''Super Snail'' from [=QCplay=] Limited has Suoer Snail himself. He's already a nearly human-sized snail in 2033 A.D., so he's either a mutant or mutate to start but even before he has his first fight, he consumes some cells from a Demon God and mutates to grow a large pair of fangs and rodent-like teeth. Additionally he can makes friends with a ninja Turtle mutate and that mutated thing from the movie ''Film/TheHost2006''.

* ''Webcomic/KongTower'' featured both varieties. Most call Mutates ''"Curios"'', and the phenomenon that creates them is scientifically termed the [[FreakLabAccident "Sklodowska Reaction"]], which causes cellular metamorphosis and allows for NoConservationOfEnergy. In the [[http://townsendwright.com/kong-tower/kt79/ comic where the concept is described]] it's pointed out that college courses that teach about this reaction have to lock the doors so that students don't try to [[TooDumbToLive experiment on themselves to get superpowers]] before the lesson's over.
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' the No-Fun Corporation 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.

* In Website/TheOnion article "[[http://www.theonion.com/article/new-osha-regulations-cut-down-workplace-mutations-52828 New OSHA Regulations To Cut Down On Workplace Mutations]]", laws are proposed specifically to prevent people from spontaneously mutating due to [[NoOSHACompliance workplace accidents]] in [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke bioengineering facilities]], pharmaceutical development, [[ToxicWasteCanDoAnything hazardous waste processing plants]], [[PowerSource nuclear power plants]], or [[MagicalParticleAccelerator particle accelerators]] causing them to develop antennae, compound eyes, mouths on their hands, the heads of venus flytraps, or similar drastic mutations.
* Website/TaerelSetting: The kin'toni, being "gene engineered beasts" who used to be zu'aan and mutated after birth due to the kin'toni virus, giving them superhuman powers adapted to the land around them
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-065 SCP-065 ("Destroyed Organic Catalyst")]]. Any animals within 12 meters of the center of SCP-065 suffer rapid harmful mutations. The larger the animal is, the faster the mutations occur.
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-783 SCP-783 ("Baba Yaga's Cottage")]]. Any animal that enters the Cottage undergoes massive mutations which usually give enhanced combat abilities.
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1575 SCP-1575 ("Venus Statue")]]. Any water that passes through SCP-1575 gains mutagenic properties. Any animal that drinks the water will undergo [[HumanityEnsues mutation into a human being]].
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1888 SCP-1888 ("Terraforming Temple")]]. When animals or plants are exposed to the substance SCP-1888-2 they physically mutate, with their bodies developing means of effective attacks (claws, poisoned thorns, etc.).
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com//scp-2756 SCP-2756 ("Surreal Landscaper")]]. SCP-2756 is an anomalous disease of unknown origin that mutates living creatures, causing extra organs to grow on random parts of their bodies.

* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Derek Powers]], the Season 1 ArcVillain of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', developed a nerve gas that had the side effect of being mutagenic and being influenced by its environment. When Powers is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard exposed to the gas himself]] and undergoes radiation therapy to treat it, the gas serves as the catalyst with its own "cure" to turn him into [[WalkingWasteland Blight, the walking meltdown]].

* PlayedForLaughs in ''{{WesternAnimation/Dilbert}}'' when Dilbert's workplace has become so toxic from its [[NoOSHACompliance decaying water system, air vents and the horrible air quality]] that the workers begin to suffer from random, hideous mutations, Dilbert being one of the few not affected. The mutations range from growing an extra limb or an enlarged eye but otherwise still look human, to hilariously monstrous like Wally who became a giant fly with a human head. All the mutations are reversed at the end of the episode when the workers just end up getting immune to the toxic environment and revert to their original bodies.
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in a WhatIf episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where the Griffins get super powers from [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers radioactive waste]]. When Mayor West tries to replicate the results, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he just gets leukemia]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' DarkActionGirl Shego and her brothers received their superpowers by being in the proximity of a [[MagicMeteor meteor]] impact.

* ''WesternAnimation/MutantLeague'', loosely based on the videogames, posits a [[MetaOrigin common origin]] for all the mutants; a huge toxic spill/explosion under the world's largest stadium on game day.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'', a kiddiefied version of the very not-family-friendly ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' franchise.

->''"Of course.'' Mutants are best equipped to deal with the world today. ''Who else? THE GHOULS? Please. NORMALS? They brought nuclear death on us all! This will be the age of Mutants!'' '''Mutants."'''

* ''Super Snail'' has you as a human-sized mutant snail who's living TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture after a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse involving [[EldritchAbomination 8 Demon Gods]]. Gaia herself sends you back in time and further [[TouchedByVorlons mutates you]].

* ''Super Snail'' from [=QCplay=] Limited has Suoer Snail himself. He's already a nearly human-sized snail in 2033 A.D., so he's either a mutant or mutate to start but even before he has his first fight, he consumes some cells from a Demon God and mutates to grow a large pair of fangs and rodent-like teeth. Additionally he can makes friends with a ninja Turtle mutate and that mutated thing from the movie.

* There's the evil supernatural force of the Dark Symmetry in ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'' which can corrupt normal humans into twisted monsters of the Dark Legion. Also in this future setting, Earth has been abandoned for colonies on the other planets of our solar system and now referred to as Dark Eden. Dark Eden does have remnant human and animal populations, with many having undergone mutations from the environment, such as the Templar faction.

* ''The Mutant Files'' by William C Dietz takes place after a global incident similar to ''Film/TwelveMonkeys''. An Islamist terrorist infiltrates his followers throughout the globe and when the time came, they release a genetically-engineered virus into the world. It killed large numbers of humanity and of the few that survived, they'd mutate with many gross deformities and no advantages. The X-Men, this series is not.

* ''Super Snail'' has you as a human-sized mutant snail who's living TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture after a PostApocalypse involving [[EldritchAbomination 8 Demon Gods]]. Gaia herself sends you back in time and further [[TouchedByVorlons mutates you]].

* ''Project Clean Earth'': Takes place a nuclear war, animals and humans are born as monstrous mutants which ended human civilization on Earth. A group of untouched scientists living on a satellite send in their unique robot warrior Bernard to Purge the Earth of mutants.

* In ''Literature/FightingFantasy'', mutants are a result of exposure to large quantities of dark magic such as those released in the historical War of the Wizards. Mutants are also a result of horrific experiments by EvilSorcerer{{s}} and MadScientist{{s}}.