Mutant

Mutant
Animated Mac Mutant.gif
Bio
HP	45/55/55/65
Points	700
Death	AHHHGSND
Weapon	Pistol (hitscan)

Post-Jaguar sprite

Mutants (also known as Zombie Guards or Undead Guards) are undead super-soldiers created by Dr. Schabbs that appear in Wolfenstein 3D (in the second episode, Operation Eisenfaust and the six episode Confrontation) and Spear of Destiny. They were intended to fight for the Nazis and often they do, being found in the same rooms as Guards. However, some missions place groups of Mutants in rooms with Guards' corpses, implying that the Mutants killed them and are hence not entirely tamed.

The green uniforms suggest that the Mutants originally were captured U.S. Army soldiers before being subjected to the gruesome zombification process. This could mean that they killed the Nazi Guards as revenge.

Mutants have guns surgically integrated into their chests, making them literal killing machines. While only armed with an automatic Pistol, they are easily one of the deadliest enemies in the game. Mutants can fire instantly instead of having to wind up for firing like Guard and Officers do, and they fire continuously instead of in single shots. Compounding this difficulty, Mutants are completely silent - meaning they do not announce their presence to the player as do the more conventional enemies, except through their gunshots, and their only vocalization is their death scream. On higher difficulties, being ambushed by a Mutant or two can drain heavy amounts of the player's health, if not outright kill.

The concept of Mutants is based on Nazi human experimentation. If B.J. is turned into a Mutant by Dr. Schabbs' syringes, his hair color remains light brown while all Mutants are black-haired in contrast to all Guards being light blond, suggesting the usage of non-Aryan people.

Upon death, like other gun-toting enemies, a Mutant drops an ammo clip containing 4 bullets.

The Übermutant, an improved Mutant, appears in Spear of Destiny.

In the Mac Family, the Mutant gives 400 scoring points instead of 700. In the mission packs for Spear of Destiny, the Mutants are replaced with Bats.

Tactical analysis

Alone, a Mutant shouldn't be much of a problem if you don't let them surprise you. A few shots from the Machine gun can take them out in no time. Always be wary that you may not be alone after all, however - the Mutants do not announce themselves as common Nazi Guards do. A Mutant sneaking up behind you can kill you in seconds on higher difficulties.

If you think a Mutant is behind a door, open then run in and and quickly backwards run back out. If there is a Mutant right in the door and you run back, you won't take as much damage. If there isn't, quickly strafe in and out to try and catch a glimpse to see if a Mutant is in the room. If you see one, retreat and wait for them to come out (unless the room is large enough). If he doesn't see you, shoot him, then retreat (unless you have a Chaingun, then take him out right away).

When facing multiple Mutants, try to make some distance between you and them if possible. This will make their attacks hurt less and decrease their accuracy. Up to two Mutants can be killed with the Machine Gun, but the Chaingun should be used against three or more. The Machine Gun's firing rate is too slow compared to three or more Mutants firing at once.

If you have to deal with a group of Mutants at close range, take out your Chaingun and open fire, no matter how small the group is. A few close-range rounds from Mutants will destroy you if you don't kill them as soon as you see them.

With other enemies, the Mutant(s) should be killed first. Their constant attacks, along with attacks from other enemies, can kill you within seconds. Use the Machine Gun if there is one Mutant with guards, but the Chaingun should be used if there are a few SS or Officers with the Mutant in a group, regardless of the other enemies with them. The Machine Gun's rate of fire is much slower than combined attacks by Mutants and other enemies.

Data

Attributes Hit points 45 (skill 1), 55 (skill 2 and 3), 65 (skill 4) Speed 512 (patrol), 1536 Pain Yes Score 700

Sprites & sounds Sprite number 187-237 191-241 (SoD) Alert sound None Death sound AHHHGSND

Ranged attack Type Hitscan Damage 1-64, 1-32 or 1-16 Shots per minute Sound NAZIFIRESND