MUTO

"MUTO: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. It is however no longer terrestrial; it is airborne."

- Admiral Stenz about the M.U.T.O.s (Godzilla)

The M.U.T.O. (ムートー, Mūtō) are parasitic co-created by Legendary Pictures and Toho that appear in the 2014 Godzilla film, Godzilla.

Development
M.U.T.O. originally was a tardigrade-like, multi-legged monster, as seen in the Comic-Con 2012 teaser trailer.

According to witnesses of the Godzilla trailer shown in Comic-Con 2013, the M.U.T.O. originally were spider-like creatures with long, thin limbs and scythes.

Name
The M.U.T.O.'s name is an acronym for "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism."

Appearance
The M.U.T.O.'s bodies are black and red. The shape of their head is reminiscent of Gyaos, and they have triangular jaws. The female M.U.T.O. have two pairs of forelimbs and a smaller pair on its chest, and is much bigger than the male M.U.T.O., being just smaller than Godzilla. The male MUTO is morphologically identical except that one of the two forelimb pairs is modified into its wings. Both MUTO have red eyes and two hind legs, and the species is capable of long-range echolocation.

Origins
The M.U.T.O. are ancient parasites that come from the same era and ecosystem as Godzilla. Much like the king of monsters, the M.U.T.O. feed off of radiation. Unlike Godzilla, who was content to live at the bottom of the ocean and feed off the planet's natural radiation, the M.U.T.O. are actively drawn to sources of man-made radiation.

Godzilla
The M.U.T.O.s first attack took place in the Janjira nuclear power plant in Japan, where several workers, including Sandra Brody, were killed. This was the work of the recently hatched male M.U.T.O., who was looking for a source of radiation that would be able to grow and sustain it while it entered hibernation. Despite the destruction of the plant, the M.U.T.O. linked itself to the radiation hot spot and entered a cocoon-like state. Some time after, the female M.U.T.O. also hatched, and proceeded to latch itself to an American nuclear waste disposal facility.

15 years later, the male M.U.T.O. finally emerges from its cocoon and lets out a mating cry for its female counterpart. It lays waste to the power plant once again before sprouting its wings and taking off. It later appears in Hawaii, where it faces Godzilla but manages to escape. Meanwhile, the female M.U.T.O. hatches as well and makes its way through Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both the winged and eight-legged M.U.T.O. arrive to fight Godzilla in San Francisco, California, after the M.U.T.O.s were lured there with a nuclear bomb, and Godzilla, in turn, was lured there by the M.U.T.O.s. In the following hours, both M.U.T.O.s are able to overpower Godzilla and have set up their nest, with the bomb being used to feed their eggs. Ford Brody manages to destroy the M.U.T.O. eggs, which draws the rage of the female M.U.T.O. onto him and away from Godzilla. Godzilla then rises back up and mercilessly pummels the female with his atomic breath, but before he can finish her off, the male attacks Godzilla once more. The two battle until Godzilla kills the male by smashing it into a building and impaling it, but by then, the female had already escaped to chase after the bomb.

Ford's team is slaughtered by the M.U.T.O., leaving Ford alone to try and get the bomb out to sea where it can explode safely. Despite this, the M.U.T.O. is easily able to catch up, both seeking a new source of radiation and knowing Brody was the one that destroyed her nest. Before she can destroy the boat though, Godzilla re-emerges and kills the eight-legged M.U.T.O. by holding her mouth open and firing his atomic breath into her throat, causing her neck to explode and Godzilla to throw her head away and return to the ocean.

Abilities
Both M.U.T.O.s have several abilities.

Electromagnetic Pulse
The M.U.T.O.s are able to unleash electromagnetic pulses from their claws, which can disable electric apparatuses in a wide radius. There doesn't appear to be any limit to how often they can do this.

Flight
The male M.U.T.O. has wings which it can use to fly.

Reproduction
The M.U.T.O.s has the ability to reproduced sexually. She lays hundreds of eggs near radioactive objects so when her offspring hatch, they can immediately feed off the radiation of the warhead.

Video Game Appearances

 * Godzilla: Smash3

Godzilla: Smash3
M.U.T.O. appears in Godzilla: Smash3 as an enemy that Godzilla fights against.

Roar
The M.U.T.O.'s roar first appeared as an MP3 file hidden in the official Godzilla site. The roar can be heard when the official site loads up, though it is faint due to Godzilla's roar being much louder than the M.U.T.O.'s roar.

Poll
Do you like M.U.T.O.? Yes! No. Kind of.