Super mutant (Fallout: New Vegas)

Super mutants are creatures living in the Mojave Wasteland .
==Background==
===Mutant migration===
After the collapse of the Unity with the death of the Master and the destruction of the Cathedral, the zealot's super mutant armies were left scattered and in disarray. One first-generation super mutant, Marcus, founded the mutant-friendly settlement of Broken Hills acting as its mayor. Following his adventures with the Chosen One,Events of Fallout 2 Marcus traveled further east looking for more mutants to pull together into a new society. Ending up in the Mojave Wasteland, Marcus' group discovered the pre-War communication station at Black Mountain in 2277, where the mutants settled down, relying on the intense radiation around the site as a natural deterrent against others, particularly humans.Black Mountain terminal entries; terminal, Log 676 Later on, however, a group of nightkin arrived at Black Mountain led by Tabitha, a former officer from the Unity. When Rhonda, her robot companion, broke down, her mental condition deteriorated.Black Mountain terminal entries; terminal, Marcus made me type thisBlack Mountain terminal entries; terminal, It's a radio station! Believing her kind is superior even to first-gen mutants, Tabitha gradually began to ignore Marcus' leadership and hopes of peace.Black Mountain terminal entries; terminal, On the air!
In 2279, things came to a head. With no prospects for cooperation and frequent clashes between nightkin and first-generation mutants, Marcus chose to leave Black Mountain with his few followers, trekking into the mountains northwest of New Vegas where they established Jacobstown in a pre-War ski lodge. Tabitha meanwhile assumed dominion over the second-generation super mutants and formed her State of Utobitha.Black Mountain terminal entries; terminal, The elite!The Courier: "What makes this a 'dangerous place?'"Neil: "You must've heard her radio broadcasts? Though why a human would follow her invitation here is beyond me... unless you didn't listen very closely. The voice on the radio belongs to Tabitha, the "supreme commander" of Black Mountain - or, as she calls it, the 'State of Utobitha.' She took control of this place almost two years ago. The Super Mutants here do whatever she says - and she says humans are to be killed on sight."(Neil's dialogue) 
===Present state===
Super mutants found difficulty forming communities, even when choosing isolated locations. Jacobstown became a haven for first-generation super mutants with a significant nightkin population led by Davison and Keene, enticed by the research and development efforts of Doctor Henry, a former Enclave scientist working on a cure for the nightkin schizophrenia caused by their abuse of Stealth Boys. Davison's group of nightkin eventually left Jacobstown and found their way to the REPCONN test site looking for a supposed stockpile of Stealth Boys, coming into conflict with the Bright Brotherhood.
Black Mountain remained the heart of the State of Utobitha, openly broadcasting threats for all non-mutants to stay away.Black Mountain terminal entries; terminal, Alone at last! The nightkin harassed travelers and merchants on the I-15 for supplies and food. Although the victims reported the matter to the NCR Rangers, they were unable to divert men and resources to take care of the problem.Fallout: New Vegas loading screens: "Travelers along the Long 15 have complained to NCR rangers that caravans have been harassed and attacked by fearsome Super Mutants living in the irradiated ruins of Black Mountain." A few isolated cases of super mutants mingling with humans can be found, such as Mean Sonofabitch acting as the town guard for Westside.The Courier: "Do you know anything about that Super mutant walking around town?"Klamath Bob: "Oh, heh. Yeah, that's Mean Sonofabitch. I know the name sounds bad, but he likes it. He's one nasty old coot. Far as I can tell, he's one of them original Super Mutants, what came from the Boneyard. Wandered about after that "Master" fellow died. Eventually got caught somewhere around the Hub, back in NCR. Boy, they sure treated him mean down there. Cut him up so bad he can't talk no more. I tried to buy him, just so they'd stop hurting him, but they didn't want any of it."(Klamath Bob's dialogue) On the other hand, politicians of the New California Republic even began campaigning on an anti-mutant platform and engineering evidence of a mutant threat to gain votes.Mercenary noteThe Courier: "Who are you doing this for?Norton: "Won't name names, but some important folks in the NCR are sick of muties attacking their Brahmin herds. They want them gone from NCR territory. Maybe this group had something to do with attacking Brahmin, maybe not. Doesn't matter. We're getting paid to make them go away."(Norton's dialogue)
==Characteristics==
Super mutants often use heavy guns and melee weapons such as heavy incinerators and super sledges. The melee variants rush the player after throwing their frag grenades and the ranged mutants will shoot at the player from a distance while they slowly advance, relying on their armor for protection. Some super mutants will have centaurs to aid them. All regular super mutants wear armor which gives them a Damage Threshold of 15, equal to a suit of combat armor. Nightkin do not have any armor but benefit from an innate 30% Damage Resistance. 
==Variants==
===Super mutant===
The weakest of the three basic types of super mutants. These mutants attack by rushing the player if utilizing a melee weapon or standing in place shooting the player with a hunting rifle, relying on their superior health and armor for protection from attacks. Standard super mutants appear at lower levels and will be replaced with brutes and masters at higher levels.
===Super mutant brute===
Brutes are the mainstay powerhouses of the super mutant forces. They are typically armed with assault carbines or incinerators for ranged combat, or sledgehammers and frag grenades for melee combat. They can be distinguished by their helmets and crude metal armor. A dead one can be found in the Ruby Hill Mine carrying various loot such as a multiplas rifle. Brutes appear at medium levels, and will be replaced by masters at higher levels.
===Super mutant master===
The strongest mutant players will encounter. They use light machine guns or miniguns for long-range combat and super sledges for close range. They are distinguished from the other two types because of their high amount of health. However, the masters located in Jacobstown wear a black suit of full body armor and eyepiece. Masters appear at high levels wherever super mutants normally appear. Masters in Jacobstown speak clearly and are non-hostile.
===Nightkin===
Blue mutants made from the most untainted humans, these volatile beings utilize Stealth Boys to sneak up on their prey. They often prefer melee weapons such as the super sledge, rebar clubs or the bumper sword, though some can be seen using firearms. Their skin tone is deep purplish-blue in color.
===Nightkin jailer===
This nightkin jailer guards the makeshift jail area of REPCONN test site. The only prisoner is a dead ghoul, a friend of Harland.
===Nightkin master===
Stronger than a regular nightkin, these mutants have more health and utilize better equipment. Nightkin masters appear at a medium and high level - unlike common super mutants, they do not have a brute variant. These masters usually carry around heavy weapons like light machine guns and miniguns.
===Nightkin sniper===
A unique nightkin found patrolling a radio tower outside Tabitha's station carrying a hunting rifle. Upon death, it will drop the unique missile launcher, Annabelle.
==Locations==
===Living===
* The main super mutant stronghold in the Mojave Wasteland is Black Mountain, where several super mutants and nightkin can be encountered along with Tabitha. The Courier will also encounter Neil, a friendly super mutant, at the base of the mountain. At least five or six of them respawn every three days.
* Jacobstown is an isolated settlement of peaceful super mutants as well as a squad of nightkin, led by Marcus.
* Mean Sonofabitch, a friendly super mutant, can be found patrolling the streets of Westside.
* An encampment of up to four super mutants can be found northeast of Ranger Station Bravo and northwest of the Devil's Throat. At least two of them respawn every three days.
* A pair of super mutants along with several centaurs can be found at Jack Rabbit Springs. These enemies sometimes wander north to the Prospector's Den. At least one of them respawns every three days.
* Several nightkin can be found occupying the basement of the REPCONN test site, led by Davison. They are part of the quest Come Fly With Me and will disappear on the quest's end if they survived.
* A group of three nightkin can be found inside Black Rock cave. They respawn every three days.
* A non-respawning invisible leveled nightkin can be found behind a rock next to the McBride house in Novac as part of the unmarked quest The Screams of Brahmin.
* Another non-respawning invisible nightkin can be found at Brooks tumbleweed ranch and will try to sell "wind brahmin" to the Courier.
===Dead===
* One dead nightkin with the unique super sledge Oh Baby! next to it can be found inside the Charleston Cave after the quest Guess Who I Saw Today gets started in Jacobstown.
* Seven dead nightkin are found around the REPCONN test site:
** Two near the checkpoint on the road leading to the test site.¹
** One inside the lobby of the REPCONN facility.¹
** One in the large industrial room of the REPCONN facility.¹
** Three in the REPCONN basement; one outside Harland's room and two just inside.
* One dead super mutant can be found near the semi-truck trailer inside the Devil's Throat.¹
* One dead super mutant master carrying a Fat Man can be found inside Nopah cave.¹
* One dead super mutant master carrying multiple items can be found in the cazador-infested pass between Jacobstown and Red Rock Canyon.¹
* One dead super mutant brute carrying a multiplas rifle can be found underwater inside the flooded section of the Ruby Hill Mine.¹
¹ May erroneously respawn; see below.
==Notable quotes==
===Jacobstown===
===Nightkin===
==Notes==
* Nightkin were first depicted with blue skin in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. Their apparent blue coloration in Fallout was due to their active Stealth Boys; in the fairly uncommon scenario that their stealth field was deactivated, they appeared as normal green super mutants.
* The nightkin inside Black Rock cave are generic nightkin not technically tied to the other Black Mountain mutants, but still typically become non-hostile after Crazy, Crazy, Crazy is completed peacefully by fixing Rhonda.
* All nightkin can randomly say omens based on the player's past actions. These omens are spoken to them by "head voices," which do not always make sense.Nightkin: ""(Nightkin's dialogue)
** This dialogue is implemented as Idle Chatter, which are lines that can be randomly spoken when an NPC is in an idle state outside of combat. As a result, while theoretically all nightkin are able to say these lines, most will not due to AI packages either disallowing said dialogue or giving them routines that make them leave the idle state.
** The three generic nightkin in Black Rock cave are commonly regarded as the only nightkin who have this dialogue. This is because, under certain conditions, they will not have any package and will always stand around idle. Ordinarily, they use the NightkinSandbox package, which was intended for Davison's nightkin in REPCONN and does not allow Idle Chatter. However, the package is conditioned to stop working if Davison is convinced to leave. As a result, helping Davison means the three Black Rock cave nightkin will be able to say Idle Chatter (provided the player does not enter combat with them).
* Super Mutant Massacre is a three-level kill challenge requiring, in total, fifty super mutants and/or nightkin to be killed. This can be difficult to achieve, as the number of locations with respawning super mutant-type enemies is very limited. Non-hostile and/or named super mutants can also be killed for the challenge, but if one intends to only kill hostile mutants, the only places with consistently respawning enemy super mutants are Black Rock cave, Jack Rabbit Springs, and the small cave north of Ranger Station Bravo. Black Mountain also has respawning super mutants and nightkin, but they may be non-hostile if Crazy, Crazy, Crazy was completed peacefully.
** As a bonus, this process is also an effective way to farm caps. Hostile mutants will often carry higher-end weapons such as miniguns, light machine guns, super sledges, and more, which can then be sold elsewhere.
==Appearances==
Super mutants appear .
==Bugs==
* Super mutants might not respawn after the quest Crazy, Crazy, Crazy. To avoid this, save in Black Mountain, restart your game, then wait for 1–12 in-game hours. This might be because of the map cells needing refreshing.
* There may be only nightkin around Black Mountain while trying to complete Crazy, Crazy, Crazy.
* Certain dead super mutants (i.e. ones dead at the start of the game) may erroneously respawn when they are not supposed to; this is because the affected mutants are templated from generic respawning mutants and have the "respawn" flag checked. This means they will respawn with 0 HP and will die to a single hit from any damage source.
==Gallery==
Super_mutants_Jacobstown.jpg|Group of super mutants in Jacobstown
FNV Jacobstown Master.png|Jacobstown super mutant master
Nightkin sniper.jpg|Nightkin sniper using the Annabelle missile launcher
Nightkin_jailer.jpg|Nightkin jailer putting his incinerator to use in REPCONN test site
Nightkin_master.jpg|The only fixed nightkin master in Black Rock cave
FNVSuper mutant.png|Super mutant GECK render
Fallout New Vegas Super Mutant on Black Mountain.jpg|A super mutant holding an incinerator
fallout-new-vegas-super mutant fight.jpg|A nightkin in combat wielding a rebar club
new vegas super mutant battle.jpg|A nightkin fighting with a sledgehammer
FNV Collectors Edition Legion armor.jpg|Seen as part of Caesar's Legion armor in Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Behind the Bright Lights & Big City
FNV Collect Edition 26.jpg|Super Mutant face/headgear variant concept art, Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Behind the Bright Lights & Big City
Neil.jpg|Neil
==References==
Category:Fallout: New Vegas creatures
Category:Super mutants
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