Muto

83th page!

The **MUTO**s (ムートー *Mūtō*?) are giant parasitic daikaiju created by Legendary Pictures that first appeared in the 2014 film, *Godzilla*, as the primary antagonists. A third MUTO appears in the sequel *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*, as a minor Titan that obeys Ghidorah and later Godzilla.

they replaced deathla in a draft.

## Roar

The roar first appeared as an MP3 file hidden in the official *Godzilla* site. The roar can be heard when the official site loads up, though it is faint due to Godzilla's roar being much louder than the MUTOs' roar.

The MUTOs have very unique roars, many of which are deep and blaring with occasional crackles and snapping noises. At a few points, the MUTOs make trumpet-like cries and groans similar to creaking doors or Geiger counters. The male and female vocalizations are slightly different; the male emits higher-pitched calls and shrieks, while the female has deeper, more guttural roars. Both MUTOs emit distinctive chirps and clicks when they touch snouts as a courtship greeting.

## History

### *Godzilla (2014)*

The MUTOs were discovered in the Philippines in 1999 after a mining operation unknowingly drilled into a cave containing two pods containing the MUTOs, one of which had already hatched. The newly hatched male MUTO, who had hatched after being disturbed by the cave collapsing, burrowed his way to the Janjira nuclear power plant in Japan, where he caused the plant to collapse from underneath, killing Sandra Brody and several other workers, and causing the entire area to be evacuated because of radiation leaking from the plant. Despite the destruction of the plant, the MUTO attached himself to the reactor and entered a cocoon-like state, absorbing all the radiation from the surrounding area. The second pod containing the female MUTO was taken by the Americans to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository in Nevada.

For the next 15 years, the organization Monarch maintained a research base in the ruins of the Janjira plant, where they observed and studied the MUTO while it fed on the reactor. As the reactor was depleted and the MUTO matured, it began giving off electromagnetic pulses which interfered with Monarch's equipment. Ishiro Serizawa, who was in charge of the operation, regretfully gave the order to kill the MUTO before it could destroy their base. The cocoon was destroyed with electrical currents released from cables surrounding it. A group of armed operatives approached the remains of the cocoon to confirm the MUTO was destroyed, but the creature was still alive and attacked them. The MUTO laid waste to the power plant once again before sprouting his wings and taking off. The United States Navy, under the command of Admiral William Stenz, began to pursue the MUTO as it crossed the Pacific Ocean. Eventually, the male MUTO arrived in Hawaii, where it had dragged a Russian nuclear sub ashore and was feeding on its torpedoes. A group of soldiers were sent to investigate, but were attacked by the MUTO Fighter jets were sent in to try and stop the creature, but the MUTO released an EMP, causing the jets to fall out of the sky and crash. The MUTO proceeded to terrorize the Honolulu airport but was confronted by Godzilla, who had come ashore to hunt it. The two monsters briefly battled until the MUTO retreated and flew over the ocean, with Godzilla in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Serizawa and his assistant Vivienne Graham concluded that the male MUTO was using echolocation to signal to the female MUTO that he was mature and ready to mate. Serizawa worried that the spore containing the female was not dormant, and the military sent a team to the waste depository to investigate. When the soldiers arrived, the facility was destroyed and the female MUTO had already broken out. The female MUTO. terrorized the city of Las Vegas and began to head west to California. The military formed a plan to lure both MUTOs and Godzilla out to sea with a nuclear warhead, then detonate it in an attempt to kill all three. Two warheads were transported via a train, but the female MUTO intercepted it in the California wilderness, killing all the personnel except for Ford Brody and eating one of the warheads. The other warhead was recovered and airlifted to San Francisco Bay, where it was armed, but it was stolen by the male MUTO, who presented it to the female in downtown San Francisco.

After acquiring the warhead, the female MUTO created a nest and attached her eggs to the warhead, nourishing them with the radiation. The male meanwhile attempted to distract Godzilla, who had broken through the Golden Gate Bridge and come ashore. Eventually, Godzilla reached the nest and took on both MUTOs at once, while an extraction team led by Ford Brody arrived to recover the armed warhead. The bomb was removed from the nest, and Ford ignited a gas explosion to destroy the MUTO eggs. The explosion attracted the attention of the MUTOs, who had overpowered Godzilla, and they went to investigate. The female MUTO was stricken with grief after seeing her young killed but became enraged when she saw Ford, the man responsible. Before the MUTO could kill Ford, Godzilla emerged from behind her and pummeled her mercilessly with his atomic breath. The male MUTO attacked Godzilla from behind, allowing the female to pursue Ford and his team as they attempted to take the bomb out to sea. When the male MUTO attempted to strike Godzilla from behind once again, Godzilla anticipated it and smacked the M.U.T.O. with his tail, impaling him on a building and killing him.

Ford's team arrived at the docks with the bomb but were all slaughtered by the female MUTO, leaving Ford the only one left. Ford grabbed the bomb and placed it on a boat. Unable to defuse it, he started the boat in an attempt to take it out over the bay before it could detonate. However, the female MUTO's EMP field disabled the boat, leaving her face-to-face with Ford. Ford drew his pistol and aimed it at the MUTO, but knew he stood no chance and closed his eyes as she prepared to kill him. Suddenly, the female MUTO was pulled back by Godzilla, who pried open her jaws and fired his atomic breath down her throat, severing her head from her body and killing her.

### *Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)*

The severed head of the female MUTO is stored at Castle Bravo, the outpost where Monarch studies Godzilla. The novelization also mentions that the corpses of the male MUTO and MUTO Prime were being dissected and studied at the facility.

A second female MUTO, called a Queen MUTO, is among the Titans being awakened by Ghidorah's call from her slumber deep beneath a strip mall in Hoboken, New Jersey. Following her new Alpha's orders, the MUTO begins to hunt on Earth with her new pack by attacking a city.

However, she later

hears Madison Russell activate the ORCA in Boston, causing her to become docile. The Queen MUTO makes the journey there but does not move quickly enough to arrive before Godzilla kills Ghidorah. Following Behemoth and Scylla, the MUTO confronts Godzilla. After Rodan bows to Godzilla, the Queen MUTO also bows, followed by Scylla, Behemoth, and Methuselah, acknowledging Godzilla as the new Alpha of the Titans.

## Abilities

### Durability

Both MUTOs were durable enough to take barrages of both small and large arms fire without any damage. However, the attacks from Godzilla are shown to harm them greatly, as both the male and female screeched in pain whenever they were bitten or clawed by him.

### Echolocation

Both MUTOs can use echolocation to communicate, find sources of radiation, and locate each other.

### Electromagnetic Pulse

The male MUTO can unleash electromagnetic pulses from his claws, which can disable electric apparatuses in a five-mile-wide radius (though it is also implied he does not necessarily have to rely on his claws to unleash an EMP, as when he gets the warhead, he unleashes it from within mid-air). The female can instead surround herself with an EMP field (labeled the "Sphere of Influence" by the news) which performs the same function. There don't appear to be any limits to how often either MUTO can use their EMP abilities. In the official novelization, it is explained the EMP ability evolved as a defense mechanism, used to prevent Godzilla's species from using their atomic breath. This purpose is never alluded to in the film, but in an earlier screenplay, it is explicitly mentioned that Godzilla cannot use his atomic breath whenever he is near the female MUTO.

### Flight

The male MUTO has wings that he can use to fly through the air, but his top speed is undetermined. Naturally, these wings aided him in seeking out radiation to offer to the female. The wings also gave the male a massive combat advantage against Godzilla, being able to ambush him from the skies with a series of strafing and grappling attacks. He would usually be able to escape back into the skies before Godzilla could retaliate.

### Intelligence

The MUTOs have shown to be intelligent enough to work as a team as the male MUTO was able to drag Godzilla away from the female MUTO, who then attacked him in unison. The female was also able to quickly determine Ford's involvement in destroying her nest.

Upon witnessing Godzilla’s victory over Ghidorah, the Queen MUTO is intelligent enough to not challenge the former and decides to yield to her new Alpha.

### Reproduction

The female MUTO can reproduce sexually. She lays hundreds of eggs near radioactive objects so that when her offspring hatch, they can immediately feed off the radiation. As parasites, the females of the MUTO parasitic species lay their eggs inside the radioactive carcasses of the larger Godzilla species to reproduce. If no carcass is present, the female will create an improvised nest by smashing a large hole into the earth to lay and protect the eggs in. The will to reproduce for MUTOs is their main driving force and is so rapid that it is described as a "breeding force" that can quickly overwhelm/over-populate the Earth.

### Speed and Agility

The male MUTO was able to outmaneuver Godzilla due to his wings and smaller size while the female MUTO possessed enough speed to outrun humans.

### Stamina

The MUTOs were shown to have excellent stamina and resilience. The male spent most of his time after hatching flying around in a constant hunt for radiation, and most importantly, a potential mate. In his final confrontation in San Francisco, the male fought Godzilla for several hours by himself, from afternoon to well into the night, while the female built a nest for their eggs. The female also displays excellent stamina, traveling from Nevada to San Francisco in the span of a couple of days, tearing through any obstacles between her with her massive size. She fought alongside the male in San Fransisco, even while being incredibly injured from Godzilla's attacks, most notably his atomic breath.

### Strength and Combat

Both the male and female MUTOs possess immense physical strength. The male MUTO was strong enough to drag Godzilla away from the female MUTO without difficulties and dredge up a Russian attack submarine from the depths of the ocean and pull it dozens of miles inland on the island of Hawaii; the fact that he could perform such a feat, and later attack a ship in San Francisco Bay to collect a nuclear warhead, implies that he posses some swimming capabilities. The female was able to claw herself out of Mount Yucca, as well as being able to destroy buildings with ease. She was also able to toss Godzilla himself around a few times, despite his immense size and weight.

## Weaknesses

### Inner Mouth

While the MUTO's exoskeletons were durable enough to withstand a point-blank atomic breath blast, the insides of their mouths and throats are not armored as such, and a blast of Godzilla’s atomic breath into the female's mouth easily decapitated her.

### Parental Instinct

The MUTOs are excellent parents and were fiercely protective of their eggs. Though the two MUTOs had tag-teamed Godzilla, having gotten the upper hand and were about to kill him, the sight of an explosion near their nest immediately caused them to both abandon the fight, which gave Godzilla enough time to recover and charge up his atomic breath.

### Relative Fragility

The male MUTO, despite being able to evade all of Godzilla's attacks with his speed and agility, was killed by a single stroke of the latter's tail into a building and got embedded into the rubble.