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The Forest is an open-world survival game that throws players into an island filled with mutants, cannibals, and the abandoned suitcases of all the victims of the tragic plane crash that landed you at the island in the first place.
Thankfully, you’re not the only survivor. Your son also survived the crash, but unfortunately, as you come to your senses, you see a man in red paint dragging him out and taking him somewhere deep into the Forest. It’s one of the most intriguing stories I’ve ever played. What truly makes you wonder in The Forest is that you’ve been put into this position with no real sense of direction.
All you have is your notebook which you’ll periodically write notes in. This is what makes people want to come back to The Forest, that sense of wonder. Since nothing is really given to you upfront, you’ll want to experience more for yourself.
As you uncover more, you’ll soon begin to realize that there is a lot to more the island than meets the eye. One of these things is the fact that there are cannibals living amongst you on the island. During the daytime, you won’t see too much of them if you stay away from their camps, but when night time comes, they get curious, and if you’re not prepared and properly sheltered, then you may end up as their meal.
But cannibals aren’t the only thing that you should be worried about while in The Forest. One other thing that you’ll need to watch out for is The Mutants, which will constantly traverse the lands. You won’t see them often above land, but when you start to explore deeper in the caves, you’ll begin to see a lot more of them.
Mutants are a peculiar thing because when I first got to the island, the worst I could think of was cannibals. But once I began to uncover more inside the caves, I began to realize that this was not an abandoned island and that there was a lot more than meets the eye happening.
One of these things is the Mutants. These mutants are hideous creatures that look like they are made up of different parts of the body. In this The Forest Mutants guide, I will talk about the Mutants that you will encounter in The Forest and what they may mean for your playthrough.
Key Details Up Front
The first thing that you will need to know about The Forest and the Mutants that you will meet is that they will all look like some creepy combination of human parts.
This might be why most people in The Forest community like to refer to this group of enemies as The Creepy Mutants. The Creepy Mutants include Armsy, Virginia, Cowman, Mutant Baby, Blue Armsy, Blue Virginia, Worm, and Girl.
Different Kinds of Mutants
Mutants are basically a combination of different body parts in a literal sense. In a more in-depth sense, they are some of the most dangerous enemies that you will find in The Forest.
When you first begin your adventure in The Forest, then you probably won’t see much of the mutants unless you’ve been exploring the caves and making some great progress in the earlier stages of the games. But even if you don’t explore the caves, eventually, the Creepy Mutants will make their way to you.
To give you an idea of what the Mutants will look like, here is a breakdown.
Regular Mutants
These are what we have come to know as cannibals. Along the way, you end up finding out that they are mutants. They have pretty human properties.
 Armsy
Armsy is exactly what its name suggests. A giant blob of arms that flails around and has some serious knockback damage. Even if you have a pretty stable camp, if you get the attention of a group of Armsies, then you might be in for a rude awakening.
One or two hits from them will knock down most wood walls and even trees. Thankfully if you do see them usually, it’s just one or two patrolling.
Virginia
If you were wondering where the Armsy’s legs went, well, you found them. Virginia is the female counterpart to Armsy. It appears to be made up of three different women with their legs being fully formed but their hands being tucked into the body of Virginia. It is also suspected that Virginia is where mutant babies come from.
Cowman
Probably the most intimidating on this list. Unlike Armsy and Virginia, Cowman has two legs and two arms, but it is terrifyingly huge, which makes it even scarier when you see Cowman charging at you, which is its go-to move. Cowman is also pretty tough to take down. You’ll be able to tell it’s a Cowman just by its sheer size and its bull-like behavior.
Mutant Baby
Are you terrified of mutant babies? Most of us are. Mutant Baby is exactly what its name suggests, just a mutant baby that will lay in the ground weeping until you approach it. Then it will launch itself at you, which seems to be its only attack. I find that terrifying. Mutant babies throwing themselves at me? No thanks.
Blue Armsy
Blue Armsy is basically Armsy’s older, stronger brother. It is identical to Armsy in everything but color and strength. Thankfully they are pretty rare, and you will only see them in the more difficult caves.
Blue Virginia
You guessed it. Blue Virginia is a stronger version of Virginia. More legs, more power, and the means to end your life horribly in multiple ways.
Worm
The most terrifying mutant you will find. The Worm is the latest addition to The Forest, and if you do encounter it in the wild, all we can really say is run. The Worm is a combination of many different mutants that make up some interesting forms.
There is a swam, a tripod, and even a flying form. The first time I ever encountered The Worm was in its flying form, where it came and easily wrecked my whole base. It was then that I learned that base destruction is not as fun as it seems.
Girl
Girl is a mutant that you will only see if you push through The Forest storyline. This means finding your son and discovering the mysteries that this island contains.
Key Moments
For the most part, Mutants will appear pretty consistently if you are looking to complete the storyline. To complete the storyline, all you can really do is explore the world of The Forest. There are no quests or anything of the sort. You need to explore. But there is one moment in the series when a Mutant plays a huge part and is key to the story.
This is the Girl. The Girl will only appear if players get the ending that leaves them stranded on the island. Instead of the Final Boss, players will be presented with The Girl. Now the Girl is very similar to the final boss in appearance.
The only difference is that The Girl has regular mutant colors, and it also has half health. When you defeat The Girl, it will turn into a Worm Mutant, which means you will need to deal with it quickly, or it will begin to multiply.
The Mutants also play a massive part in the story when it comes to the general workings of the island that The Forest takes place in. But you wouldn’t realize this unless you paid attention to the clues you find along the way.
This is where The Forest really excels in storytelling. Simply by exploring and finding different notes, pictures, and newspaper clippings, players will be able to uncover a lot of storytelling that wasn’t there before.
Can You Interact With Mutants?
Unfortunately, no. You will not interact with any of the mutants in The Forest. The Forest is a pretty straightforward tale. You will not be interacting with any NPCs while you explore the island, which makes sense.
The Forest is all about being stuck on a remote island by yourself with no connection to the outside world. Your only goal is to find your son, and that is all the players need to worry about, apart from surviving. You definitely will need to survive.
How are They Formed?
This is the big mystery that players will begin to unravel. Thankfully, we aren’t left in the dark regarding their origin. Along the way, players will find an Obelisk which they will later find out is used for resurrection. So yes, the island that The Forest takes place on is one giant experimental island where things went south, and the scientists were killed by their own creations.
Basically, humans are placed into the Obelisk to be resurrected, and most of the time, they will come out fine, but somewhere along the way, their genes will begin to react, and out comes a mutant creature that completely forgets who they are. We later come to find out that the cannibals around the island are possibly mutants that didn’t have as bad of a reaction as some of the Armsy creatures and Virginia.
How to Deal With Mutants
Thankfully players will have a variety of ways that they will be able to deal with Mutants. There are plenty of weapons that players will be able to find throughout The Forest that will allow players to fend off Mutants. A few of the things players can do is craft Molotov and bombs to take care of the larger group of mutants that they will encounter in the caves as they explore.
You can also approach different encounters in a variety of ways. If you’re looking for a more stealthy approach, you will be able to use weapons like bows to quietly take down enemies. This means that you can take down enemies one by one without alerting everyone else.
But the most straightforward approach that you will be taking is a head-on fight. Thankfully you have a multitude of weapons that you can use to fend for your life. There are a variety of axes that players will be able to use to quickly dispose of single enemies.
But when there is more of a crowd, then it might be good for you to use something like the Katana to swiftly dismember enemies.
Creepy Armor Explained
Once you defeat enemies like Armsy, Virginia, and Cowmen, you will be able to skin them. This means that you will be able to take their skin and eventually form it into the strongest piece of armor that you can find in The Forest. It has a total of 80 defense points which is miles ahead of anything else in the game.
Best Way to Defend Your Shelter Against Mutants
Here are some tips to ensure you are making the best possible shelter.
- The best way to defend your shelter will be to start where you build it. If you build your base around nothing but trees, then it might be difficult to build traps and defensive contraptions. So it’s best to choose somewhere near the land of water. Mutants can’t go on the water. So it automatically protects you from one side, and usually, lands of water are a bit away from trees. This means that you’ll have trees for crafting, but you won’t have them blocking your way.
- Build defensive traps. There are defensive wall spikes that you can lay around your base that will damage mutants. You can also build your own effigy, which might scare off one or two lone mutants.
- Build a catapult. Seriously, you need one of these in your base. Especially when you see a Worm headed your way. You can thank me later.
Related read: Comprehensive The Forest Crafting Guide.
FAQ
Question: Are there people besides you and the Mutants on The Island?
Answer: The only encounter that you will have in The Forest is when you are face to face with The Girl or with Megan. Depending on which end you are geared towards. This is a key encounter because you learn where the mutants actually come from and what the Obelisk is actually capable of. There truly aren’t any memorable quotes from the mutants, but there is one haunting quote left on a whiteboard by Megan after she is resurrected.
When resurrected, she kills her father and writes Daddy’s Dead in blood on a nearby whiteboard. Something that sent me shivers up the spine when I first saw it.
Question: Does Timmy turn into a Creepy Mutant?
Answer: As of now, we do not know. But Megan, that underwent a similar process as Timmy did, in fact, turn into one of the more grotesque mutants in The Forest. And if you watched all of The Forest’s ending, you do see Timmy in the future, but there are hints that he is not everything he appears to be. So, for now, we just don’t know, but we do know he has not gone the Megan route.
Question: Can you have a Creepy Mutant on your side?
Answer: No, Creepy Mutants only serve as enemies in The Forest. At no point in time are you able to interact with any of them as an NPC, much less befriend any of them. You do engage in battle with many of them, and they can destroy your base if you are not careful. In the sequel, Sons of the Forest, it is hinted that you will be able to meet some interesting new Mutants that have not fully turned yet. It is slated to be released in 2022.
Question: Can Creepy Mutants take over your base?
Answer: No, Creepy Mutants are not able to take over your base. They are not really capable of things that require too much thought, but they are capable of completely destroying your base.
So, do they need to take it over if there is nothing left to take over? It would be interesting if, in the sequel, Sons of the Forest, they did implement a much deeper base mechanic that allowed other mutants to invade.
Conclusion
The Mutants in The Forest serve a bigger purpose than just being enemies. Although as enemies, they can be tough, and if you meet with the wrong flock of them, you could lose your base in seconds. There are a few different kinds of mutants.
The mutants that you find in the world of The Forest include the regular mutant, which at first you will come to know as cannibals. But as you progress through the story, you will realize that these are the base versions of the mutants that will come and terrify you on a daily.
There is Armsy and Virginia. Armsy is a mutant that is a weird configuration of hands attached to a blob of a body. Virginia is a mutant that is a bunch of feet that are malformed and attached to one body. You’ll see them roaming around together, and if you are not careful, they can easily destroy your base.
Blue Armsy and Blue Virginia bring even more mayhem and are just stronger versions of Virginia and Armsy. You usually find them in the more difficult caves, which means there won’t be many places for you to run to. Then there are Cowman and Mutant Baby. David and Goliath. Cowman is basically a giant mutated baby that will ram you and destroy anything in its path. Mutant Baby is a mutant version of a baby that will lay on the ground and throw itself at you when you are near it.
Worm and The Girl are two special types of mutants. The Girl is basically an end boss sort of character. If you choose the ongoing ending, then you will encounter her in The Forest from time to time. The Worm is the newest mutant added to the game. It will appear as a configuration of multiple body parts. To completely kill it, you will need to destroy every part of The Worm.