Institute super mutant Institute super mutants are the variant of super mutant found throughout the Commonwealth , Nuka - World and the Island in 2287 . These mutants were created by the Institute by means of exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus ( FEV ) . They are massive , muscle - bound creatures with an innate immunity to radiation and disease . They are most frequently encountered in central Boston , and can also be found in Fallon ' s department store , Fort Strong , Trinity Tower , Revere satellite array , Big John ' s salvage , Gwinnett restaurant , and several other locations all throughout the Commonwealth - most of which can be identified by the telltale signs of hanging meat bag s , twisted girders protruding out of the ground , cages , and gory waste piles that they enjoy decorating their surroundings with . In " Far Harbor " , a group of super mutants have traveled to the Island and are located in the Vim ! Pop factory , National Park HQ and Aldersea Day Spa . Background . The Institute ' s strain of super mutant shares many similar traits with the West Coast and Vault 87 breeds , such as caging prey , bagging body parts and feeling superior to humankind . Regardless , terminal entry 0769 - CM22 aboard the Prydwen states that the Commonwealth mutants are " quite different " from those found in the Capital Wasteland , including differences in anatomy . Origin . The super mutants encountered within the Commonwealth are in fact the unfortunate victims of failed FEV experiments , created and disposed of by the Institute . In August of 2178 , the Institute relaunched its FEV program under the direction of a man named Dr . Frederick , presumably with stored samples from the pre - War experiment that created Swan . The FEV research lab was then constructed in the back of the Bioscience Division wing and a team of researchers began experimenting with different strains of the FEV virus . Two years after the start of the experiment , in the year 2180 , a horde of super mutants attacked Diamond City , but were repelled by the newly formed group known as the Commonwealth Minutemen . To supply the program with test subjects , the Institute abducted wastelanders from all over the Commonwealth to experiment on . These subjects were examined , logged , then submerged directly into FEV . If they survived the process they were subjected to multiple experiments and cognitive tests . Once finished , some were discarded back to the Commonwealth , creating the scourge of mutants currently present in the year 2287 . This method of trial and error was used to perfect different strains of the FEV , with the overall goal of improving the synthetic organics program . In March of 2224 , the synthetic organics research team had come to an impasse . They had perfected two promising strains of FEV ; however , these were not adequate to further their research , as their test subjects had been exposed to an excessive amount of radiation . The team decided to explore new avenues of exploration in order to advance research , however the Directorate decided to continue the FEV program in hopes of learning more about the FEV ' s potential . The much needed breakthrough came about in 2227 , after acquiring the source of undamaged genetic code , allowing the third generation synth project to spin off from the FEV research initiative . The FEV research effort itself continued for several more decades , despite producing no useful data - except for manufacturing more super mutants for the surface to contend with . In April of 2286 Dr . Brian Virgil succeeded Dr . Syverson as head of the project , and it quickly became evident to him that FEV program had ran it course , having produced no new data within the past ten years . Virgil decided he could no longer live with himself knowing that he was ruining the lives of so many innocent people . He tried to lodge a formal complaint with the Directorate . When no reaction came , Virgil destroyed the research lab and all of the research , which became known as " Incident V " within the Institute . He then proceeded to transform himself into a super mutant using a unique strain of FEV to flee into the Glowing Sea . The FEV program was finally ended after over one hundred years of abduction and experimentation . Characteristics . Biology . Their mouths are depicted as being closed much like Marcus , unlike the Vault 87 super mutants which carry a permanent snarl . Furthermore , in regards to previous appearances , specifically the Vault 87 super mutants , these super mutants have a darker skin tone and appear more scrawny and with less pronounced muscles . The existence of the behemoths suggests a link with the Vault 87 strain of FEV , as they are the only super mutants known to continue growing with age . However , the green - brown coloration is closer to that of the Mariposa strain of FEV , specifically resembling the super mutants seen in " " . Intelligence . Unlike their counterparts from the Capital Wasteland , the Commonwealth mutants possess a relatively advanced understanding of armor , weapons , and at least some minor knowledge of craftsmanship in comparison to their brethren . They appear to trade stronger physiques for the knowledge to utilize / create weapon and armor mods , and even have access to reprogrammed security systems such as searchlights and automated turrets , not unlike their far - western cousins . Higher rank super mutants show more intelligence than their brethren , speaking more eloquently , and utilizing some advanced tactics such as cover , shifting position and taking high ground . They also are capable of following a chain of command , setting up traps and ambushes , and using human captives as bait . Their lesser brothers , however , will often ignore cover and simply try to get as close to an enemy as possible , even when armed with long range weaponry . Both Institute and Vault 87 mutants appear to share the ability to be somewhat educated due to the existence of mutants such as Fawkes and Uncle Leo from " Fallout 3 " and Strong and Erickson in " Fallout 4 " . Like their Vault 87 brethren , a number of the Commonwealth super mutants seem to want to preserve their new species , since they can be overheard speaking about " " green stuff " " in some areas ( such as Trinity Tower ) . Gameplay attributes . Super mutants can randomly be encountered around the Commonwealth in small groups , usually raiding parties , which can attack player character made settlements . Much larger groups can be found infesting various buildings throughout the wastes . They have developed a unique relationship with mutant hound s , and will utilize these beastly creatures as attack dogs , usually encountered in groups of 1 - 3 . Mutant hounds are unique to " Fallout 4 " super mutants , instead of the centaurs that have normally accompanied them in past installments of the game series . Lower level mutants are normally armed with various pipe weapons , hunting rifles and molotov cocktails . For melee , they will often utilize wooden boards . Higher level mutants can appear with heavier weapons such as miniguns , missile launchers , Gauss rifle s , laser weapons , assault rifles and fragmentation grenades . For melee , they normally wield large sledgehammers and super sledges . Variants . Super mutant . The most common and weakest variety of super mutant . They carry a pipe weapon and drop minor and low - tech loot on death . They can usually be taken down with minimal effort . They can often be found among more powerful varieties of super mutant such as a skirmisher . Super mutant suicider . A super mutant that will run at its enemy with a beeping mini nuke in its arm . It will then detonate itself while in close proximity , killing its enemy and itself in a fiery , nuclear explosion . Shooting the mini nuke in the suicider ' s hand or targeting the right arm in V . A . T . S . will cause the mutant to explode prematurely , killing it instantly . As a result , shooting the bomb from afar is one of the most effective ways to dispatch them , and potentially other nearby enemies as well . If one is desperate to kill a suicider and the only weapon types available are unarmed and / or melee , the player may either sneak attack it , or run up to it , strike it , step back a bit , and repeat until it ' s dead ( though the latter is not advised as one missed attack will allow the suicider to detonate the mini nuke , and accidentally hitting the mini nuke with either type of attack will detonate it ) . The suicider can be detected before it is seen by listening for the beeping of its mini nuke . If the suicider is killed without detonating the payload , which can be done with a headshot or body shot , a mini nuke can be looted from its corpse ; otherwise only nuclear material will be found on its remains . Utilizing the Blitz perk , it is possible to kill the suicider in V . A . T . S . with a melee weapon before it explodes , even if it takes several hits . Super mutant skirmisher . Super mutant skirmishers are significantly tougher than regular super mutants , taking more damage and usually carrying more powerful weapons . Skirmishers will appear more frequently once the Sole Survivor reaches level 10 . Super mutant brute . Super mutant brutes are a significant step up from skirmishers . Brutes , much like their namesake , take even more damage to put down and are far stronger than their lower - leveled brothers . Super mutant enforcer . The super mutant enforcer is significantly stronger than the brute and is more likely to be more heavily armored than the lower level super mutants . Super mutant butcher . Super mutant butchers appear more often at higher levels . They are normally heavily armored and often use heavy weapons and they are much stronger than the enforcer . Super mutant master . A force to be reckoned with , super mutant masters have an extremely high hit point pool and superior damage resistance compared to their weaker brethren . They are generally equipped with heavy weapons such as the missile launcher or minigun . They can be generally found in locations with a large mutant concentration , an example being Big John ' s salvage . Super mutant overlord . A super mutant overlord is stronger than most mutants . They may be seen traveling in pairs . Super mutant primus . The primus spawns at level 45 + and is seen with large groups of super mutants , most commonly at major super mutant outposts . They commonly wield super sledges or assault rifles , but may also be seen with missile launchers , and rarely , Fat Man launchers . Super mutant warlord . The third strongest super mutant , the warlord is very dangerous as he is much stronger than most of his brethren . Their extremely high hitpoints means that they can withstand multiple head or limb shots from extremely powerful weapons like Gauss rifles without being crippled . Behemoth . Behemoths are the most powerful super mutants by far , towering above any player character , at about 20 feet tall . These super mutants are the oldest and strongest of their kind . As well as being many times larger than any other humanoid creature , almost as large as a mirelurk queen , unlike regular super mutants they will not speak - instead they will make monstrous roars . They are armed with a fire hydrant mounted on a large pipe ; other than that , they have the ability to throw heavy boulders at their enemies . Either way , both weapons are heavy - hitters , and will cause major damage against any enemy smaller than them . They carry a cage made from shopping carts on their backs , similarly to their Vault 87 counterparts , which they use to carry boulders that they use during combat . A behemoth has a scripted appearance in Fort Strong during Show No Mercy where it must be killed . One can usually be found at a power station to the west of Natick Banks , and another south of Walden Pond amid a ' stone henge ' of cars . Yet another spawns directly between Gunners plaza and Hyde Park . One more often spawns slightly southwest of Recon bunker Theta . Another spawn point is directly beside the Super Duper Mart in Lexington , along with a raider who fires a Fat Man at it . A behemoth can also be spawned by going to Med - Tek Research and heading north towards Greentop Nursery , where there will be a vehicle with a Jangles the Moon Monkey sitting inside , which will trigger a behemoth spawn point nearby when picked up . A behemoth is also encountered on the way to the C . I . T . ruins during the quest Ad Victoriam , where it will be effortlessly crushed by Liberty Prime . Behemoths in " Fallout 4 " can respawn , unlike " Fallout 3 " , where they were unique encounters . The player character can find a unique behemoth named Swan at Swan ' s Pond in Boston Common , and another unique behemoth in the Far Harbor add - on named Grun at the Vim ! Pop factory . Glowing behemoth . Glowing behemoths are highly irradiated and can damage enemies with radiation when nearby . Unlike other glowing enemies , this variant is identical in appearance to regular behemoths . Epic behemoth . Epic behemoths are an immensely powerful variation of average super mutant behemoths , and , to some extent , are more clever in combat . They tend to appear in forest areas , which they may use to their advantage by hiding behind trees . They also will block their face with their hand quite often , especially when fighting at melee range , allowing for a chance to get in several hits . They are more upright than many standard behemoths in appearance , and although they are quicker , they use similar fighting techniques , such as smashing , knocking the player character down and hurling boulders . Aside from being able to sustain more damage , they can be crippled if low on health , and will slump to the ground on their side , where they can be finished off . Ancient behemoth . These behemoths are the toughest and oldest mutants found in the Commonwealth . They are most likely some of the first FEV experiments that the Institute conducted and have grown over the decades into ancient behemoths . Notable quotes . Miscellaneous taunts : Appearances . Institute super mutants appear in " Fallout 4 " .