In Bethesda’sFalloutfranchise, super mutants are usually big, violent, and brutish enemy types which can cause a whole lot of problems for the player. Mutated - or by some accounts enhanced - by the Forced Evolutionary Virus, super mutants are big, strong, and kind of dumb.
Except some rare super mutants have a little bit more depth to them, and these encounters offer the player something more interesting than the usual shoot-and-loot. Ranging from player companions, simple NPCs, merchants, and tough-to-kill bosses, super mutants have a lot of variety. Here are the ten best super mutants from theFalloutfranchise.
Swan is a super mutant behemoth encountered duringFallout 4. As they age, super mutants don’t stop growing. Instead they grow to ever larger and larger sizes, culminating in the fearsome super mutant behemoth - a truly gargantuan beast any sane Wastelander steers well clear of.
Swan has a particularly sad story: he started his life as a scientist, Dr Swann, researching the radiation in Boston Common. He became mutated and eventually grew into the super mutant behemoth known as Swan, lurking inside the pond at Boston Common. Encountered by the player inFallout 4,Swan is usually killed.
9Strong
A player companion inFallout 4, Strong is only a little smarter than the average super mutant and is still quite inclined to violence. Unlike most super mutants, though, Strong has been exposed to the works of one William Shakespeare - prompting a quest to find the’milk of human kindness'.
Except he thinks it’s a literal milk rather than a metaphor. But Strong can accompany theFallout 4player character on their journeys and is a fully featured companion with his own likes and dislikes - although no romance option.
Fawkes is an extreme rarity among super mutants: he’s intelligent, well-educated, and able to keep his violent impulses under control.A player companion inFallout 3,Fawkes is first encountered in the ransacked Vault 87 which is home to a gang of super mutants.
Fawkes is gentle and kind, but suffers from long-term memory loss thanks to his mutation by FEV. He makes a great companion inFallout 3and can even retrieve the Garden of Eden Creation Kit from the irradiated chamber where it’s stored for the player.
7Grahm
Grahm is a quirky super mutant merchant with his very own pack brahmin, Chally the moo-moo, who can be encountered inFallout 76. A wandering chef, Grahm vaguely remembers better times before the Great War when he was able to host cookouts with all his friends. Grahm is a fascinating look at a softer, friendlier kind of super mutant than those usually encountered in the Wastes.
As a vendor, Grahm sells all sorts of unique items, mostly plans and recipes for theworkshop system. Grahm also sells weapon plans for weapons such as the Gamma Gun and Sledge Hammer.
Dog and God is a psychologically disturbed nightkin super mutant present inFallout: New Vegas’sDead MoneyDLC. This super mutant acts as an assistant of sorts to Elijah, a disgraced Brotherhood of Steel Elder. Like many nightkin Dog and God suffers from overuse of Stealth Boy technology, resulting in a kind of split personality where Dog is subservient to Elijah but God wishes to break free.
Dog and God is a player companion only available in theDead MoneyDLC, and the stark differences between his two personalities provide a fascinating experience when exploring the Sierra Madre.
5Dr Brian Virgil
A formerInstitute scientist, Dr Brian Virgil turned himself into a super mutant before escaping to the single most irradiated place in the Commonwealth - the Glowing Sea - after realizing his research was unethical and pointless. Responsible for turning countless innocent Wastelanders into super mutants, Virgil wrecked his lab before he fled.
Encountered as part ofFallout 4’s main quest line, Brian Virgil holds the distinction of being a human who became a super mutant - and then a human once more (depending on player choices).
4Tabitha
Tabitha is a female super mutant nightkin who runs the super mutant settlement at Black Mountain. Like many nightkin Tabitha suffers from severe mental instability thanks to her overuse of Stealth Boys, but Tabitha is an interesting character for many reasons.
In her prime, she was responsible for saving the lives of many super mutants, and when encountered by the player inFallout: New Vegas, she’s responsible for an anti-human propaganda radio station. Tabitha is a fascinating look at how different super mutants can really be.
3Marcus
Present in bothFallout 2andFallout: New Vegas,Marcus is a super mutant with quite the history in theFalloutfranchise. Variously a sheriff, a mayor, and even a player companion, Marcus is a reasonable, calm, and intelligent super mutant with ambitions of peace and integration for all of the super mutant kind.
Once a loyal follower of the Master, Marcus has mellowed considerably in his elder years and has come to see a chance for super mutants to have a more peaceful future in the world. By the time ofFallout: New Vegas,Marcus is the mayor of the super mutant settlement of Jacobstown, where he is attempting to rehabilitate the nightkin.
2Lily Bowen
Lily Bowen is a female nightkin with a sad story. A quirky and intriguing character, Lily Bowen has an interesting history. A former resident of Vault 17, Lily Bowen had a husband, a child, and even grandchildren - until she was ripped from Vault 17 at the ripe old age of 75 and pressed into service as a nightkin in the Master’s army.
Like many nightkin Lily suffers from severe psychological instability, but she retains some memories of her family and past.A player companioninNew Vegas,Lily’s condition can be influenced by choices made by the player. Lily is definitely one of the more interesting super mutants in the entireFalloutfranchise.
1The Master
The big bad behindFallout 1’s super mutant army, the Master is responsible for the creation of an entire generation of super mutants as well as widespread devastation and horror. As part of a plan to change the entire world into super mutants the Master ransacked Vaults in search of pure humans to turn into super mutants.
The Master turned regular humans into regular super mutants, nightkin, horrific body-horror creations called centaurs, and even floaters in his quest. Intelligent and calculating, the Master can be reasoned with, and his psychic control made him very dangerous indeed.
