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| Mutate | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| Characteristics | |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Notable members | Fantastic Four Savage Land Mutates Grapplers |
In the Marvel Comics universe, the term mutate refers to a human who was turned into a superhuman, as opposed to mutants, inhumans, and other sub-races of humanity whose superhuman characteristics are genetically inherited at birth.
Mutate is a term used in Marvel Comics to refer to superhumans who acquired their superpowers by exposure to some mutagenic compound or energy (either accidentally or deliberately). Unlike Marvel's mutants, mutates require external stimuli to acquire their powers, since mutates are not born with the potential to manifest powers. Within the Earth X universe, the powers and abilities of Earth's mutates and mutants alike are the direct result of the genetic manipulations of the Celestials in humanity's distant past, who placed dormant genes within one cross-section of humanity, and the active Deviant and Eternal genes in other cross-sections.
Genosha is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as "Earth 616" in the Marvel Universe and a prominent place in the X-Men chronology. The fictional nation served as an allegory for slavery and later for South African apartheid before becoming a mutant homeland and subsequently a disaster zone. The island is located off the Southeastern African coast northwest from Seychelles and northeast of Madagascar. Its capital city was Hammer Bay.
Magneto is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appears in The X-Men #1 as an adversary of the X-Men.
Apocalypse is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is one of the world's first mutants, and was originally a principal villain for the original X-Factor team and now for the X-Men and related spinoff teams. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, Apocalypse first appeared in X-Factor #5.
Beast is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Originally called "The Beast", the character was introduced as a mutant possessing ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility, oversized hands and feet, a genius-level intellect, and otherwise normal appearance and speech. Eventually being referred to simply as "Beast", Hank McCoy underwent progressive physiological transformations, permanently gaining animalistic physical characteristics. These include blue fur, both simian and feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Beast's physical strength and senses increased to even greater levels.
Polaris is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko, Polaris first appeared in The X-Men #49. She is the younger half-sister of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. For the majority of her publication history, she has been a superheroine, and a member of either the X-Men or one of its sister groups, such as X-Factor. In comics published from 1987 to 1989, she was possessed by a villainous telepathic entity called Malice. In comics published from 2000 to 2001 she was a member of the Acolytes and Magneto's cabinet on Genosha.
Unus the Untouchable is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has appeared in the comic book X-Men, which is part of the Marvel Universe. Unus is a mutant, and is named for his ability to consciously project an invisible force field which protects him from harm.
The Legacy Virus is a fictional plague appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring the X-Men. It first appeared in an eponymous storyline running through Marvel Comics titles from 1993 to 2001, during which it swept through the mutant population of the Marvel Universe, killing hundreds and mutating so that it affected non-mutant humans as well.
Morlocks are a group of mutant characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are usually depicted as being associated with the X-Men in the Marvel Universe. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith, they were named after the subterranean race of the same name in H. G. Wells' novel The Time Machine. They first appeared as a group in The Uncanny X-Men #169. Caliban appeared prior to that, but he was not yet a member of the Morlocks.
In DC Comics' DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate in the Marvel Universe and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the term is used loosely in most instances to refer to any human-like being with extranormal powers and abilities, be they cosmic, mutant, science, mystic, skill or tech in nature. A significant portion of these are normal human beings born with a genetic variant called the "metagene", which causes them to gain powers and abilities during freak accidents or times of intense psychological distress.
Master Mold is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Since his primary purpose was to act as a portable Sentinel-creating factory, and the Sentinel robots were primarily used to hunt mutants, Master Mold has almost exclusively appeared in the X-Men and related, mutant-themed, comic books.
The concept of a mutant is a common trope in comic books and science fiction. The new phenotypes that appear in fictional mutations generally go far beyond what is typically seen in biological mutants and often result in the mutated life form exhibiting superhuman abilities or qualities.
Spiral is a fictional supervillain turned superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Longshot or the X-Men. Created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams, the character first appeared in Longshot #1, in which she was established as a lieutenant for that titular character's archenemy, Mojo. Prior to Longshot joining the X-Men, Spiral also became a recurring adversary of that team and each of the various X-Men subgroups, as well as serving as the archenemy turned ally of X-Men member, Psylocke. She then joined a team of X-Force led by X-Men member Storm.
Sabra is the alias of Ruth Bat-Seraph, a fictional character, an Israeli superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Joanna Cargill, also known as Frenzy, is a fictional character, a mutant superhuman appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been a member of supervillain groups, including the Alliance of Evil and the Acolytes, as well as the superhero team the X-Men.

The Collective Man is a fictional character, a Chinese superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Collective Man is actually an identity shared by the Tao-Yu brothers, a set of quintuplets. They possess the mutant power to merge into one body, which variously possesses the collective abilities of all five men or all the people of China. The brothers also share a psychic/spiritual link that allows them to telepathically communicate and teleport to one another.
David Moreau, also known as the Genegineer, is a fictional character in Marvel Comics. Working for the island nation of Genosha, he developed a mind control device which made mutant slavery possible.
The Terrigen Mist is a fictional substance appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Terrigen Mist is featured particularly in stories that feature the Inhumans, a fictional race of superhumans.
In American comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is a human being that possesses a genetic trait called the X-gene. It causes the mutant to develop superhuman powers that manifest at puberty. Human mutants are sometimes referred to as a human subspecies Homo sapiens superior, or simply Homo superior. Mutants are the evolutionary progeny of Homo sapiens, and are generally assumed to be the next stage in human evolution. The accuracy of this is the subject of much debate in the Marvel Universe.
The Earth of Marvel Comics' main continuity has contained a number of fictional hidden native humanoid races.