Concepts of mutants

[chakal]

Hello everrryone!

Here is a food for thought for you!
I know it might be too hard, but let's try anyway!
We all know (or not) that mutants in marvel universe are the one, who have x-gene.
We also know that Celestials put this gene in humans for lols.
If someone tried to remove it, they will kill us all.
I want to discuss the difference between the marvel mutants and non-marvel mutants.
I want to present to you the different concepts of what mutant is. And I will illustrate to you with examples of marvel mutants. Yay...
Now, there are many concepts of what mutant is.

The drama in 3 parts:
Part 1: Poor, unloved, ugly freak (ala Morlock)
The first and foremost concept of what mutant is, is the concept of humans touched by nuclear war, radiation, etc. (Hills have eyes)
These mutants are ugly, they don't have special powers, but they're ugly and deformed.
They have to cope with their ugliness. They're different, they didn't ask for it, and it was all fault of the goverment.
Here is example of mutant type 1


Part 1 of 3

[chakal]

Part 2: I was born that way
In our real world there are many mutants who were born that way.
For example, there is bearded woman, a guy with 6 fingers. These mutants might have powers, or might have not. The thing is that there are many examples in our own world. There are guys who can speak with animals, etc.
Most of them ended in circus. They were born that way, and they had nothing to say.
They don't have special powers, they're just freaks, but they were born that way
Example


Part 2 of 3

[chakal]

Part 3: X-Men
These mutants believe that they're the next step in evolution.
They call themselves Homo Superior (yeah right)
They're born that way, but they look cool and they have cool superpowers
They're telepaths, they have wings, they have optic blasts.
Anyway, they are the sh*t
They will rule us, they are better than flatscans.

Example


The questions are:
Which type of mutants do you prefer?
What do you think the mutantdom lacks?
What do you think about each type of mutants?
Do you know other types?
Do you know other examples of mutants in both classic literature, or sci-fi literaute?
Can you find examples of mutants in other comic books, games, movies, and books?
What the word "mutant" means for you?

Should mutant be ugly, have superpowers, or whatever else?

In other words, this thread serves as an outlet to discuss the portrayal of mutants in both marvel, and non-marvel literature and media.

Are mutants dangerous? Scary? Or should we accept them?

[Time_to_Zap]

I do think it'd be cool if there were to be an "ugly" mutant who rose to prominence within the X-Men. They'd still be an X-gene mutant, but with one of those not-so-useful powers/mutations like purple skin and that's it. They could be like for the team.

[Home made ectoplasm]

I like this thread but I don't have much to add.

[chakal]

If I can give you some hint, there are mutans for example in Judge Dredd comic book. You know, cursed earth, and whats not...
Also in Strontium Dog, there was cool storyline about mutant revolution...

The problem I got about X-men was that these guys were pretty. Sure they're outcasts. But they're kind of hot outcasts. For me, Morlocks were the true X-Men.

EDIT: Also, I tried to simplify the concepts for you. Let summarize
1) classic mutants - humans after nuclear holocaust, apocalypse, freaks
2) real world mutants - simple mutantship, you know different colour of the eye, the higher resistance for electricity. natural born mutants, etc.
3) the replacement for humanity

I wonder, if there are more ideas, concepts avalaible.

Let me elaborate a little, because I feel that this thread will die quickly. If someone reads sci-fi literature, he will find a lot of cool examples of future predictions, technology, theories about A.I., cyborgs, aliens, travels in time and dimensions. I want to gather it all here. And if this thread will fail (which is the reason I fought with myself for weeks, should I start this thread, or not?), I will give some examples for you to read, and etc.

When it comes to a serious discussion, no one is here to talk. But when we gossip about some bull, than yea, there are 30 pages of bull...

[ZNOP]

I like this thread but I don't have much to add.

I concur. But, wait I predict that the next few pages in this here thread should prove interesting to say the least.

[chakal]

I concur. But, wait I predict that the next few pages in this here thread should prove interesting to say the least.

Only if I share with you my discoveries. But I do want you to at least start discussing something. It's one of the reasons I avoid starting threads, because I know people will ignore it.

EDIT: And damn, once I'll start, you'll be happy.
Another thing is that I'm worried that Marvel treats mutantship as the same thing as ring in your ear, dying your hair, etc. Being a mutant is both a curse and a blessing.

[vampiric_cannibal]

I do think it'd be cool if there were to be an "ugly" mutant who rose to prominence within the X-Men. They'd still be an X-gene mutant, but with one of those not-so-useful powers/mutations like purple skin and that's it. They could be like for the team.

I've pondered the possibility of a team of new mutants who all have utterly useless powers for combat, and who make up for it the way most baselines do in battle - guns, armour, tech and deals with demons. Mostly the first three, but Marvel loves them magical teleporters and Deus Ex MAchina.

[chakal]

I've pondered the possibility of a team of new mutants who all have utterly useless powers for combat, and who make up for it the way most baselines do in battle - guns, armour, tech and deals with demons. Mostly the first three, but Marvel loves them magical teleporters and Deus Ex MAchina.

That would work, it depends on the imaginaton of the writers. Not all mutants have to be super-agile, fit, and etc.

You could have a guys like in lost vikings, one guy who can double jump, other guy who is a living shield, and another guy who can shoot some low-level energy bolts towards enemies.

Writers try too hard to make their mutants either mega-freaky, or mega-powered.

EDIT: But otherwise, is it fair what I did with dividing mutants into 3 groups?

[chakal]

Ok, treat it as a proof that I have some interesting stuff for you to read
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/how-n...ange-our-race/

It was published 10 years before the first issue of X-Men.

[ZNOP]

Ok, treat it as a proof that I have some interesting stuff for you to read
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/how-n...ange-our-race/

It was published 10 years before the first issue of X-Men.

So was this...



It's a Good Life (Book 1953) (The Twilight Zone adaptation 1961)

[chakal]

This short story about a mutant was later used as a basis for the character, who was named after the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Min...short_story%29
Mindworm first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #138 from 1974.

Another example of mutants portrayal from my memory was in movie "Total Recall" from 1990 with Arnold Schwarzenegger. They were mutants type 1.

Also, was Stephen King's "Carrie" called a mutant? She did have some telekinetic powers.

[ZNOP]

This short story about a mutant was later used as a basis for the character, who was named after the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Min...short_story%29
Mindworm first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #138 from 1974.

Attempted gang rape by hoboes during the "McCarthy era"?!? I'm surprised "Kornbluth" wasn't jailed for that story.

Another example of mutants portrayal from my memory was in movie "Total Recall" from 1990 with Arnold Schwarzenegger. They were mutants type 1.

They were Mutates (See:Marvel Mutates)...

Also, was Stephen King's "Carrie" called a mutant? She did have some telekinetic powers.

Never... Carrie's mother blamed "Possession/Witchcraft/The devil" for her Psi abilities.

[chakal]

They were Mutates (See:Marvel Mutates)...

By the standards of marvel, yes they were mutates. The x-gene idea while definitely helped in marvel universe, kinda messed up the concept of what a mutant is. That's why I ask: what "mutant" means to you? And let's forget for a while about the marvel definition of mutants. Does being a deformed freak qualifies as a mutant? Or is it connected mainly with paranormal powers?

Ok, another interesting thing is Mutant X tv series. Google for detailed information. Many of you probably remember the Havok solo series from late 90s, "Mutant X". But did you know that in 2001 the title was used for action adventure tv series? Ironically, Marvel published comic book tie-ins with the series. Despite the lawsuits (Fox had exclusive deal for X-Men and they seem to think that Mutant X is too similar for X-Men franchise), the series reached 66 episodes (65 episodes are minimum required by American weekday syndication television). I didn't watch the show so I can't tell you more about the substance. All I know is that in this series, mutants were a result of genetic manipulations thanks to goverment secret operations. If someone has some interesting info about the show, he/she can share it here.

About the types of mutants; I think that the real mutants are the ones who not only have superpowers, but also look differently from standard humans (Polaris, Gambit seem to be the best examples of balanced mutant representation).

EDIT: "It's a Good Life" (Good example ZNOP btw) was also remade in Twilight Zone the Movie.

EDIT EDIT: Can the kids from "Village of the Damned" be considered mutants? Or hybrids?