Mariposa super mutant The Mariposa super mutants or West Coast super mutants are a variety of super mutant common on the West Coast and the Midwest that originated from the Mariposa Military Base in California . While some of them can be rather stupid , in general they are more intelligent and civilized than their distant , upshot Vault 87 cousins and even in comparison to their Institute cousins . Background . Master ' s Army . Super mutants were first created on the West Coast by Richard Grey , who led an expedition to Mariposa in 2102 . When the expedition was attacked by robot s , he was knocked into an FEV vat , but managed to crawl out . FEV was initially meant to be injected into humans , but Grey soon found out that direct physical contact worked as well . He began to mutate in horrible ways , turning into a giant , amorphous blob of flesh . He developed psychic powers , which were enhanced by consuming living minds to expand his own brainpower . Slowly , as wanderers made it into the base themselves , he started doing his own experiments with FEV . Grey — who now called himself " the Master " — lamented the needless destruction of the Great War . In his warped state , he decided that he would have to force humanity to evolve . If everyone could be as perfect as his super mutants , there would be no more conflict . Those who could not evolve would die . Around 2155 , the Master began seeking out uncontaminated humans with which to create mutants and build his super mutant army . However , creating super mutants was a very hit or miss process . The great majority of super mutants produced by the Master and later his Lieutenant in Mariposa ' s Vats were big , dumb brutes . Physically , they were vastly superior to humans , but they had the intelligence of children . What exactly causes some mutants to be brilliant and others to be stupid is unknown . The Master was certain it was related to radiation damage : humans who hadn ' t been exposed to too much radiation yielded smarter mutants ( see his personal diary for his thoughts on this ) . His Lieutenant , however , had a different theory . When the bombs hit the research facility and turned it into the Glow , they cracked open a few tanks filled with FEV . The bombs ' radiation then mutated this FEV into an airborne strain . But this new airborne FEV didn ' t have any real mutagenic effects on people . All it did was inoculate human subjects against the real FEV , acting as a sort of vaccine . The ideal dipping subject was someone who hadn ' t been exposed to the airborne FEV . Both of these conditions — no radiation exposure and no mutant FEV inoculation — were present in one population : Vault dwellers . Each Vault contained around 1 , 000 viable subjects to be dipped and turned into super mutants . Which factor exactly determines what you ' ll get from a dipping — radiation or inoculation — is still uncertain , though as a rule of thumb , the cleaner the subject , the better . Fall of the Master . In 2162 , a person known as the Vault Dweller destroyed the mutant army by causing an explosion in the FEV vats at Mariposa , which collapsed the entire base , after which he proceeded to The Cathedral and killed the Master . Without the leadership of their creator and his lieutenant , the mutants divided into at least three factions . First of them , led by Gammorin , decided to leave California and find a place for themselves somewhere in the East . The second , under the leadership of Attis , wanted to continue the Master ' s work , rebuild the army , and dominate New California once again . The third remains in New California . Some of these super mutants , however , especially those who retained more of their intelligence than their less pure brethren , wanted to make peace with humans , put old differences aside and work together to rebuild the world after the War . In 2185 , super mutant Marcus and Brotherhood of Steel Paladin Jacob crossed paths in the desert and punched and shot at each other for a few days . Eventually , they gave up ( laughing ) , unable to get an advantage over the other . The two started traveling together , arguing over Master and BOS doctrine . Eventually the two , along with the trail of ghouls , humans , and super mutants , founded the community of Broken Hills . Some super mutants also settled in other more tolerant human communities , like the New California Republic . A conversation with a non - player character in " Fallout 2 " also indicates that some super mutants and members of the Children of the Cathedral traveled North . However , many of the super mutants remain hostile to humans , and traveled the wastelands in small groups with floaters and centaurs , like during the Master ' s reign . These were known as the remnants of the mutant army . Conversations in " Fallout 2 " indicate that some of the super mutants have started going senile and seem to be suffering other effects from old age . Gammorin ' s Forces . Some time after their departure , the faction led East by Gammorin was pursued by Brotherhood of Steel airships . While most of them ended up in the vicinity of Chicago , far from Gammorin ' s forces , one of the zeppelins crashed north of the mutant encampment . The leader , Paladin Latham , challenged Gammorin to a single unarmed combat and , to the surprise of everyone , killed the mighty mutant . As he defeated the previous chieftain , the super mutants expected him to become the new leader of their army . Latham suffered a head injury during the combat , and throughout the years , he grew more and more insane , even though he managed to organize the mutant forces into an army nearly as powerful as they had been during the Master ' s reign . This reshaped army was since led by him , his right hand Toccomatta and minor commanders . When Latham ' s forces encountered Calculator ' s robots from Vault 0 , he swore an oath to destroy the cybernetic menace . By that time , he assumed the name " Gammorin " , after the mutant chief he had killed . Gammorin ' s mutant scientist ran extensive research in order to find a cure to super mutant sterility . However , his laboratory in Jefferson was taken by a splinter faction of the Brotherhood of Steel from the Chicago area , who believed it to be a weapons manufacturing plant . Eventually , Latham / Gammorin and his forces were defeated by the Brotherhood . After the defeat , many mutants were , however , allowed to join this Brotherhood to fight against the robots . The Brotherhood tried to continue the work on the cure to super mutant sterility , but they were unsuccessful . Forces of Attis . A smaller sub - section of the mutant army did remain together in New California , under the command of a visionary lieutenant named Attis . Highly intelligent and vindictive towards the Brotherhood of Steel , Attis took his group into hiding , searching for clues regarding the history of the FEV virus . Some time after 2208 , learning about a secret Vault - Tec installation in Texas with new and possibly improved versions of the FEV virus , Attis led his group to the area where the rumors started , the ruined city of Los . His ultimate goal was the continuation of The Master ' s plan - to rebuild the mutant vats and eventually transform the entire human race into mutants . His forces were eventually defeated by the Brotherhood of Steel , who were hunting for them . Second Generation . In 2236 , the Enclave discovered the remnants of the Mariposa Base . Soon , assault squads combed the desert for slaves they could use to mine the military base and get to the vats . One of the squads included soldier Frank Horrigan . Enclave construction crews , as well as human and super mutant slaves began excavations . In September they uncovered FEV , and mutations began to occur in the human workers . Frank Horrigan comes into contact with the virus and is sent to the Enclave labs for study . He later becomes the Enclave ' s finest tool of warfare : a unique , deadly super mutant extremely loyal to the President . In 2237 , having obtained the FEV data , the Enclave abandoned the site after more mutations occurred , causing 2nd Generation super mutants to arise - the Enclave left a single squad behind to wipe out the super mutants , but the mutants , using armaments they have cached in the base during excavation , reduced the squad to ashes after suffering heavy casualties . The remaining 1st and 2nd Generation super mutant slaves were sealed inside the base by Enclave sappers , who collapsed the entrance to the base . The mutants formed a new community under the leadership of Melchior , whose magician talents had allowed them to hide the weapons . Mojave Wasteland . By 2281 , a population of 1st and 2nd generation Mariposa super mutants , as well as nightkin , grouped under the leadership of Tabitha in the Mojave Wasteland region , in the Black Mountain radio complex . The smarter and more organized nightkin remnants are in charge of the dumber second generation mutants . Before Tabitha , Black Mountain was a peaceful refuge for super mutant s , 1st and 2nd generation alike , but Tabitha was welcomed into the community and took control over Black Mountain with her nightkin , whom she brought . She persuaded the unintelligent 2nd generation mutants to join her with her bigoted radio broadcasts and now uses the very same broadcasts to attract other mutants to the refuge . The 1st generation mutants were not as easily persuaded into joining Tabitha , but could do nothing but leave due to her nightkin and 2nd generation mutants . Marcus , along with the others , left to find new lands to call home , but this task was tough due to the fact that super mutants are shunned . Most of the peaceful 1st generation super mutants , including Marcus , the former mayor of Broken Hills , can be found in Jacobstown . They specifically chose Jacobstown due to its remote location near Red Rock Canyon , but the NCR set up an outpost nearby and began to harass Jacobstown . A 1st generation mutant , Neil , can be found just before the route towards Black Mountain . He is also non - hostile and his purpose is to guide other super mutants away from Black Mountain and towards Jacobstown .