its story. Well, to get to the heart of the story- you have to go back to the beginning...

When the Great War annihilated civilization, the survivors lost their loved ones, their

homes, and their worldly goods. They endured a daily search for food, water and medicine,

but they also had to seek out their lost identities. People have always defined themselves by the

work they do, the place they live, the things they own. In the Great War it wasn't just

buildings that were destroyed - entire cultures were erased from history. In the brutal years

that followed, the survivors had to define themselves again, find meaning in their existence,

or face a metaphorical loss of their humanity. But a much more literal threat to their humanity

was already in place, waiting quietly beneath the desert for someone to stumble across it.

Someone did, nearly a century after the war, and that threat came closer to extinguishing

humanity than all the bombs and guns of the old wars.

A single neutron passing through a strand of DNA can cause a cancerous tumor, but a

lifetime of exposure to unprecedented amounts of atomic fallout will have wildly unpredictable

results. After a few generations of passing on this defective DNA a species will begin

to mutate. That explains many of the strange beasts running around the wasteland. But not

all of them.

There's a different strain of mutant out there. They're shaped like men, but... bigger. Some

of them are more dangerous than deathclaws, stronger than a man in power armor. They call

themselves "Super Mutants" and they're not the result of random contact with radiation,

but rather a deliberate act of genetic tampering.

Holotapes unearthed in pre-war military installations show that the United States government started

out with good intentions. Rival nations had attacked America with biological weapons,

resulting in a "New Plague" so America's leaders created their own defensive virus.

The plan -- originally -- was to make a germ that would mutate America's population

just enough that they would become immune to the viruses that the enemy might use.

In a sense this Forced Evolutionary Virus worked, but the effects were much more drastic

than anticipated. The animal test subjects mutated by it were not only resistant to common

biological weapons, they also grew stronger and more intelligent, but monstrously deformed.

In Maryland the virus was placed in a Vault-tec Vault, and used as part of their cruel experiments.

According to files recovered from a Vault-tec mainframe, the people who took shelter in

that vault were exposed to the virus by their own Overseer, the very man assigned to protect

them after the bombs fell. After escaping the war, these people suffered even worse

than those trapped on the surface.

The mutation process is painful, and most people exposed to the virus die a horrible

death in a body they don't even recognize as their own. Those who do survive often wish

they hadn't, because their very humanity is taken from them. Whatever they looked like

before mutating, they transform into an enormous, bald, green brute.

That sudden loss of identity would enrage almost anyone. Maybe with enough therapy a

person could come to terms with their new body, but most of the poor creatures suffered

from another side effect - reduced cognitive capability.

Despite the virus' potential to increase intelligence in some people, most of the super mutants

on the East Coast were just plain stupid.

In fact, many of their brains were too small to perform even basic autonomic functions

like breathing.

For those that survived, there were some positive trade offs. Their strength increased tremendously,

as did their size. Even the "small" ones are nearly ten feet tall. In the Capital Wasteland

these beasts continue growing throughout their existence. Wanderers have reported fighting

super mutants that are fifteen feet tall, and foolhardy adventures have pumped hundreds

of bullets from assault rifles into mutant overlords without bringing them down.

Scouts from the Brotherhood of Steel even claim to have fought super mutants that are

twenty feet tall and can survive a direct hit from a mini nuke.

The only factor that keeps them in check is that they are infertile and cannot reproduce

- at least not the way that they did when they were still human. The first mutants created

in that horrid vault might not have been as intelligent as the humans who created them,

but they had strength and righteous fury on their side.

The mutants turned on their creators and transformed them into the next generation of super mutants,

and in time the vault was nothing but mutants, alone, undying and just intelligent enough

to know that they had been betrayed by humanity.

Forcibly stripped of their humanity, robbed of their ability to reason, and transformed

into massive brutes they were an angry hoard trapped inside a vault. Rage and boredom are

an unstable mixture and eventually that vault burst.

Hundreds of super mutants emerged into a wasteland where their enhanced physical abilities made

them better suited to survive than the humans around them. The disorganized humans had only

one advantage, and that was their numerical superiority.

Out-numbered and unable to breed, the mutants were still cunning enough to understand that

they had to boost their ranks by kidnapping humans and exposing them to the virus.

Further West, things were more complicated. California and the West Coast had their share

of trouble with super mutants, but those mutants... they didn't just suddenly pop out of a vault

and rampage like mindless savages. The mutants of the wasteland's core region were the result

of a misguided plan to set the world right.

The mutant army was smart enough to scour the lands for new humans to mutate, and to

select people with little exposure to radiation. Using humans with DNA undamaged by radioactivity

meant they were more likely to keep their intelligence after mutating. The size and

capability of this inhuman swarm grew, always hungering for the purest human DNA to serve

as the building blocks of a master race.

This was before the New California Republic had solidified. Before the Enclave chose to

reveal itself. Back when the Brotherhood of Steel kept their technology closely guarded.

There was nothing to stand against an army with such organization. Such single-mindedness.

Such... unity.

Who they had been before no longer mattered. The super mutants weren't divided by old world

notions of race; and they did not bicker over religious beliefs, for they all worshiped

the same Dark God, and claimed that they could hear his voice in their heads.

Did this dark god exist? Were the mutants led by some cunning mutant general? Could

the master race have a Master of its own? Someone or some thing was certainly behind

this new Unity movement.

No doubt through much trial and error, this "Dark God" created generations of flawed

beasts before finally discovering that the FEV works most effectively on people who have

low levels of radiation exposure. Access to pre-war computers revealed that the wasteland

held secret communities of uncontaminated vault dwellers whose gene pools had been protected

for generations deep beneath the earth where the radioactive fallout couldn't reach them.

It's ironic that the super mutant master was done in by the actions of one of these vault

dwellers.

Regardless of how it happened, with their master gone, the mutant army scattered.

The former elite guard of the mutant army have taken the fall of their master the hardest,

and have become an unpredictable menace. These Nightkin as they call themselves were once

the best of their species; augmenting their strength and cunning with pre-war stealth

technology. They are usually still in possession of the rare Stealth Boy devices and use them

without concern for the harmful effects of prolonged exposure. After decades of constant

use, their minds have degenerated and their skin has darkened to a distinctive grey. They

are plagued by hallucinations and imaginary friends; often their jabbering is the only

sign that one is nearby. Due their tendency to appear in unexpected places and engage

in bizarre behavior a single Nightkin can be more dangerous than a group of their green-skinned

brethren.

Some super mutants have formed their own communities, following charismatic leaders across the wasteland.

Turn a radio to the right frequency in the right parts of Nevada and there's a broadcast

coming from a mutant girl who thinks she can take the Master's place and guide the mutants

to a new utopia. Although she has gathered many followers, her mental instability ensures

that this is... unlikely.

Some wanderers even speak of outright friendly super mutant companions who accompany them

as friends and equals. Given their resilience and long lives, these benevolent creatures

could still be out there looking for new adventures and traveling companions.

A few diverse communities consisting of humans, ghouls and mutants alike have popped up - at

least for a time. Despite the best efforts to get along, it seems that differences will

always reduce people to fighting among themselves. Perhaps that Dark God was right, and what

the wasteland really needs is more unity.

If the super mutants do ever form another army, they're likely to find the wasteland

a little more of a challenge this time around. Since their master fell, the world has become

a more crowded place, and there are other, better equipped factions of humanity, ready

to challenge any newcomers for the spoils of the Old World.

But that- is a story for another day...