Mutants
Type: Elemental
Mutants are individuals who, through exposure to exotic chemicals or mysterious energies, have developed superpowers. Due to rising levels of pollution and chemical contamination in the modern world, many mutants are born with their alterations. One of the most well-known types of metahuman, mutants have been fighting for their rights for several decades.
- Abilities: Simply put, mutants have superpowers. Each mutant develops a distinctive ability or physical alteration. These can be quite varied in nature, from generating blasts of fire, to invisibility, to superhuman strength. Usually, these abilities will be fairly simple in nature; a mutant probably won’t be able to summon complex machinery, for example.
- Origin: Mutants are created by exposure to exotic chemicals, biological serums, or energies, collectively referred to as mutagens. This can happen directly, or as a lingering result of exposure that happened to one of their ancestors. In many cases, mutants are born with their mutation, and there’s no way to track the mutagen that caused it. Sometimes mutants are created deliberately with experimental procedures. Interestingly, different people exposed to the same mutagen will not always mutate in the same way; there’s a theory that mutagen exposure doesn’t corrupt DNA so much as trigger evolutionary leaps. Because of this, mutant powers are unpredictable and extremely difficult to replicate.
- Varieties: Mutants are usually divided into two different categories. The first division is whether they were born with their powers or whether they were exposed to mutagens later in life. The second division is whether their mutations are obviously visible or not. As mutants have historically faced prejudice, these distinctions can make a big difference in how mutants navigate in society. Several other types of metahumans are often mistaken for mutants; you may wish to check out psychics if you’re interested in mental powers, cryptids if your powers are beastly or nature-oriented, chimeras if your powers were granted by a magical source, or anomalies if your powers are especially surreal.
- Personality: Some observers have noted that mutants often have powers that seem to align in some way with their personalities. As mutants grow and change as people, they may find their powers behave in new ways as well. Some more visibly altered mutants may find themselves living as pariahs.
- Visibility: Known. After centuries of oppression and hiding, mutants forced their way into the public eye a few decades ago, fighting for their right to exist openly. Their struggle is far from over, but most people at least know about them. Many other hidden metahumans look to mutants as an example for how they might potentially end the stifling secrecy they live under.
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