Mutant

The Myūtanto (ミュータント,) is an enemy that appear in. Encountered in Site 16 and Site 32 of the Future, Mutants are tall, armless entities that appear dark pink in color. Typically found in groups of twos and threes, single Mutants can be encountered in battle. Stealing from a Mutant relinquishes a Hi-Potion if successful. Their attacks include Head-Butt, Tentacle, and Absorb HP, the latter of which shows an animation of a long, red tongue piercing a party member and extracting fluid from them.

On the Black Omen, the Metal Mutant is stronger version of the Mutant; grey in color, the Metal Mutant is a stronger, re-skin of the Mutant enemy locate in Sites 16 and 32.

Avoiding battles
Appearing on the map as large, sleeping entities, battles against Mutants can be avoided. However, once a party member enters their "hit box", they awaken and spring into battle. If this hit box is avoided, the battle against the Mutant can be avoided. In Lab 32, for instance, where Mutants are most commonly encountered, there is a patch of three Mutants sleeping on heaps of garbage near the Western entrance to the area -- one sits above and two sit below a gap in the garbage. If the player takes the path straight threw them, they awaken and engage in combat. If the player takes the route above or below them, the battle can be avoided.

Combat tactics
Two strategies exist for battling Mutants at low-levels. Traveling through Sites 16 and 32 tends to happen for the first time around level 12. Battling Mutants at higher levels becomes incredibly easy and no real strategy is needed. However, on a standard playthrough, two methodologies exist. The first method is simple hack and slash. Have Marle heal the party when their HP gets low and repeatedly use the "Attack" command to perform basic attacks. When fighting a group of Mutants, they can deal significant amounts of damage while healing themselves through use of their Absorption Tech, Absorb HP. To avoid this, have Lucca use Hypnowave and slowly pick them off one by one. The second tactic involves using the Fire Whirl Tech. While neither weak to nor strong against Magic, Mutants take significant damage from Lucca and Crono's Fire Whirl Tech. When the party is around level 12, one Fire Whirl and one basic katana strike from Crono will kill a Mutant. Follow this process for each Mutant on-screen and the battle is over. Using Flamethrower and Wind Slash do not seem to do any more damage than basic attacks, so avoid using them to conserve MP. Although typically not arranged in clusters (minus the batch of three near the Western entrance to Site 32, which are always in a cluster), the Mutants do tend to stand in a line formation, leaving them vulnerable to Wind Slash and Flamethrower attacks, so these Techs may be useful only for the convenience of hitting multiple Mutants at one time, shortening the battle.