The Mutant is a story-important and rare undead enemy in Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny.

Lore[]

The Mutant is the creation of Doctor Schabbs as part of Operation: Eisenfaust, a secret Nazi plot to create supersoldiers by bringing fallen soldiers back from the dead. Because of this, in Wolfenstein 3D Mutants only appear in Castle Hollehammer in Episode 2 and the secret level of Episode 6. Mutants were also present in Castle Nuremberg during the events of Spear of Destiny, growing more prevalent the closer the player gets to battling the Übermutant. Mutants are created via a serum that turns their blood into a purple slime. A third arm is also surgically grafted into their chest to carry their handgun so their other two arms can carry cleavers.

Tactics[]

The Mutant's health is between that of a Guard and an Officer, with its movement speed being similar to a Guard's. However, a mutant can still pack a wallop via their fire rate and stealth approach. When attacking, a mutant fires two consecutive shots, making their attack essentially half of an SS's machine gun burst. While in both lore and visuals a mutant is swinging two cleavers while attacking there is no distinction in the code that causes them to deal extra melee damage. It would matter very little anyway, as being point-blank while they fire their rapidly repeating shots would mean a swift death anyway.

Perhaps the Mutant's greatest asset is its silent approach. Unlike most other enemies, a mutant does not announce its presence when alerted. As a result, if a mutant sees the player before the player sees the mutant then the player's first warning that mutant is present would be from sustaining heavy damage from gunfire. As a result many mappers seeking to enhance the challenge of a level might hide mutants around corners. This is an effective way to heighten the player's vigilance, but if overdone can become annoying.

Similarly to Officers, bringing a machine gun or chaingun to fight Mutants will trivialize them.

Official Hint Book Description[]

From The Official Wolfenstein 3D Hint Book:

Mutants don't make a sound until they shoot, greeting you only with the crack of gunfire. They are extremely aggressive and will continue to attack until dead. Mutants are equipped with chest guns and cleavers. They wear no armor, but can take almost as much damage as an SS guard.

Trivia[]

In the Spear of Destiny Mission Pack the mutants are replaced by Bats. While visually different the Bats behave exactly like Mutants.
The Mutants' central hand is a right hand when facing it head-on, but at some angles it is a left hand.

ECWolf DECORATE Definition[]

actor Mutant : WolfensteinMonster 15
{
    points 700
    health 45, 55, 55, 65
    speed 1, 3
    sighttime 1, 6
    dropitem "Clip"
    attacksound "mutant/attack"
    deathsound "mutant/death"
    secretdeathsound "mutant/fart"
    states
    {
        Spawn:
            MTNT A -1 NOP A_Look
            stop
        Path:
            MTNT B 10 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT B 2.5
            MTNT C 7.5 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT D 10 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT D 2.5
            MTNT E 7.5 NOP A_Chase
            loop
        Pain:
            MTNT J 5 A_JumpIf(health & 1, 1)
            goto See
            MTNT K 5
            goto See
        See:
            MTNT B 5 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT B 1.5
            MTNT C 4 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT D 5 NOP A_Chase
            MTNT D 1.5
            MTNT E 4 NOP A_Chase
            loop
        Missile:
            MTNT F 3 A_FaceTarget
            MTNT G 10 bright A_WolfAttack
            MTNT H 5 A_FaceTarget
            MTNT I 10 bright A_WolfAttack
            goto See
        Death:
            MTNT L 3.5 A_Fall
            MTNT M 3.5 A_Scream
            MTNT NO 3.5
            MTNT P -1
            stop
    }
}