List of Mutants in The Hills Have Eyes

The Mutants, or Hill People, are the main antagonists of the remakes of The Hills Have Eyes series of films. The Mutants are a deformed and reclusive off-shoot of the Human race, created through radiation.

Origin

“	Your people asked our families to leave the towns, and you destroyed our homes. We went into the mines, you set off your bombs, and turned everything to ashes. You made us what we've become. Boom! Boom! Boom!	”
—Big Brain, explaining a shortened version of the Mutants' origin to Doug Bukowski in The Hills Have Eyes

The teaser trailers and prologue of the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes film, as well as newspaper clippings seen in the film and dialogue from mutant character Big Brain, reveals that the Mutants are the way they are due to radiation. Sometime in the fifties during the Cold War, the American government, after forcing the populace of a New Mexico mining town off their land, performed nuclear testing in the area, unaware that the towns inhabitants had fled to the nearby mines, where they were exposed to radiation given off by the tested atomic bombs. Subsequent generations of these miners were born as the malformed Mutants.

The graphic novel, The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning expands upon this origin greatly, revealing that only some of the miners gave birth to Mutants; those that did were driven from the old nuclear testing village the miners inhabited after the government stopped testing in the area, back to the mines to live a meager existence on supplies sold to them by a nearby gas station owner, Jeb. When Jeb became unable to supply the Mutants and their parents any longer, the Mutants' leader, Karen Sawney Bean, made a deal with him; Jeb would trick anyone who ventured to his gas station into going into the Mutants' territory, where they would be attacked and devoured, with any valuables they had being given to Jeb and his family to sell. Soon after Karen Sawney Bean died, her son, Hades, became the Mutants' leader. The Mutants, led by Hades, attacked the nearby nuclear testing village sometime after Karen's death, killing everyone in it and taking it as their own, after learning from Jeb's son, Jeb Jr., the reason they and their parents were banished from it years ago.

During the events of the first The Hills Have Eyes film, members of a vacationing family known as the Carters, who were tricked into traveling through the Mutants' domain by Jeb Jr., managed to successfully kill almost every member of a clan of Mutants; though two of the four surviving members of the Carter family were killed by the Mutants, two others managed to escape the Mutants and were found by police, managing to tell the authorities about them.

After the dying broadcast of a police officer, a part of a slaughtered group of officers investigating the Mutants' nuclear test village, was received, the army was sent in to exterminate the Mutants. Though the Mutants managed to kill a large number of attacking soldiers and destroy an army tank, their village home was inevitably destroyed and those Mutants that survived the military assault retreated to the mines, unnoticed by the army. In The Hills Have Eyes 2, the clan of Hades and his children wreak havoc on unsuspecting military soldiers and brutally kidnap and rape one female. Hades is ultimately killed along with the majority of his offspring.

Mutants appearing in The Hills Have Eyes (Jupiter's Clan)

Main article: The Hills Have Eyes (2006 film)

Big Brain

Big Brain is an apparent leader of the Jupiter's Clan as he is shown issuing commands to other Mutants on multiple occasions through a walkie-talkie. Big Brain apparently suffers from an extreme case of hydrocephalus and goitres, explaining his large and distended head and bloated throat. Due to his physical condition, Big Brain is incapable of walking and is confined to an old-fashioned wheelchair. Big Brain is portrayed by actor Desmond Askew.

Located in an electronics filled house in the mutants' nuclear test village home, Big Brain is found by protagonist and husband of the late Lynn Carter Doug Bukowski. Attempting to interrogate Big Brain, Doug learns about the origin of the mutants; when he threatens Big Brain with his baseball bat, Big Brain summons an axe-wielding Pluto.

Doug eventually succeeds in killing Pluto but, concerned for his baby, cannot spare the time to kill Big Brain. Then Big Brain commands Lizard to kill Catherine on his walkie talkie. He is later killed by Beast.

Big Brain's voice is earlier heard over Goggle's walkie-talkie, telling the other mutants that they must kill all of the Carters.

In the graphic novel The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning Big Brain makes a small appearance where his mutilated corpse, dragged from his wheelchair, is found later by the mutant leader Hades, sometime after the events of The Hills Have Eyes.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Big Mama

Big Mama, one of the few female Mutants seen and apparently takes care of young mutant children. Big Mama is one of the least deformed of the Mutants, being only obese and hairless; she is depicted as covering her bald head with a wig that she is shown combing in one scene. Big Mama is played by Ivanna Turchetto.

When the character Doug discovers his daughter Catherine is inside Big Mama's house in the nuclear testing village, he sneaks into her house. As Big Mama watches television, Doug manages to move past without her noticing and takes Catherine into his arms. As Doug tries to get back out of her house with Catherine, Big Mama, seeing Doug's reflection in the screen of her television, attacks Doug and knocks him out with a frying pan. Big Mama's fate is unrevealed, as she does not appear again and is not referenced to either.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Cyst

Cyst is portrayed as wielding a shotgun. Cyst seems to suffer from neurofibromatosis, which explains the reddish lesions covering his body. He also walks with a limp and has a large neck brace grafted to his body. Cyst was played by Gregory Nicotero, makeup artist of The Hills Have Eyes and The Hills Have Eyes 2.

Cyst is first seen by Doug Bukowski dragging a female corpse through the nuclear test village. As Doug hides behind an old generator, his dog Beast draws Cyst's attention when he lets out a whimper. Dropping the rope he was using to drag the female body, Cyst inspects the area Doug and Beast are in, but soon stops his searching after finding nothing (Doug and Beast had hid in a nearby wrecked car) and starts to drag the body he had earlier away again.

Cyst is encountered again by Doug as he leaves Big Brain's house; hiding, Doug waits as Cyst stops patrolling to cock his shotgun before he attacks him, hitting Cyst in the knee with an axe and knocking him to the ground. With Cyst helpless, Doug proceeds to axe him in the back before killing him using the pick end of the axe, impaling Cyst through the eye with it. With Cyst dead, Doug steals his shotgun and leaves his axe behind.

Cyst makes a small cameo appearance in The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, in which he appears on a splash page that portrays Doug's attack on him with the axe.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Goggle

A lookout for the Jupiter's Clan, Goggle resides in the hills, using a pair of binoculars to spy on and observe anyone who passes into the desert; Goggle's attire consists of a large coat and a bowler hat, and his mutation consists of him having two patchjob slits on his face in place of a nose, as well as patchy pink and red skin. Goggle is the counterpart of Mercury, a character and villain from the original 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes. Goggle is portrayed by Ezra Buzzington.

For the most part, Goggle spends most of the film simply spying on the Carter family with his binoculars. When the family's pet dog, Beauty, is accidentally let out and runs into the hills, she is found by Goggle, who dismembers her and eats a portion of her leg, leaving character Bobby Carter to find her grisly remains. When Bobby knocks himself unconscious after falling, Goggle is kept from noticing him by Ruby, who safeguards the knocked out Bobby.

Later, while surveying the Carter family trailer, Goggle is brutally attacked by the Carters' other pet dog, Beast, who mauls Goggle and kills him by tearing out his throat. Goggle's arm, torn from his body and still clutching a walkie-talkie, is later taken by Beast to the Carters.

Goggle, identifiable only by his bowler derby, can be seen in The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning aiding various other mutants in killing the original inhabitants of the nuclear test village; Goggle kills a man repairing his car by slamming the hood of the vehicle down on the man's head with enough force to instantly kill him.

In order to prepare for his role as Goggle, Ezra Buzzington viewed several programs and documentaries about cases of cannibalism throughout history. ^[1]

Relatives: Papa Jupiter (father), Lizard (brother), Ruby (sister), Pluto (cousin)

Lizard

Lizard is one of the more violent and merciless of all the mutants, taking a sadistic satisfaction in killing and tormenting; Lizard, along with being thin and very nimble, has a severe cleft lip and malformed jaw. Lizard is played by Robert Joy and is the counterpart of Mars from the original 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes. He's the film's main antagonist.

When the Carter family are traveling through the desert, it is Lizard who punctures the tires of their car, using a makeshift spike strip, which he quickly pulls away, leaving the impression of an accident. Later, Lizard appears aiding Papa Jupiter and Pluto to take the semi-conscious Bob Carter into their mine lair.

When the bulk of the Carter family find Bob set ablaze and tied to a decrepit tree, Lizard enters their trailer and, as well as devouring one of the pet birds in there and eating the food stored within, shoves his cousin, Pluto, away so he can brutally rape Brenda Carter, who Pluto had captured. Angered by Lizard bullying him, Pluto thrashes through the trailer breaking everything in his path, only to stop when he finds the infant Catherine Bukowski, who Lizard decides to use as a hostage. When Catherine's mother, Lynn, returns to the trailer, she sees Lizard and tries to attack him with a frying pan, only to be disarmed by him and, under threat of Lizard killing Catherine with Big Bob's magnum, is forced to allow him to fondle and suckle her breasts. When Lynn's mother Ethel enters the trailer and finds her daughter being molested by Lizard, Lizard quickly shoots her, an act which causes Lynn to stab him in the thigh with a screwdriver; this prompts Lizard to nonchalantly shoot Lynn in the head before he leaves the trailer with Pluto and the captured Brenda and Catherine. Seeing Doug and Bobby running back to the trailer, Lizard changes his mind and goes to shoot Brenda, only to realize the magnum is out of bullets and, threatening Brenda by saying he'll be back for her, he leaves with Pluto, who has Catherine.

Later, after Pluto is killed by Doug Bukowski, Lynn's husband, Lizard is walkie-talkied an order to kill Catherine by Big Brain; before he can kill Catherine, Lizard notices his sister, Ruby, has taken her away. Chasing after Ruby, Lizard finds her about to give Catherine back to Doug, who he attacks using his spike strip as a whip and easily beats to the ground. With Doug incapacitated, Lizard advances on Ruby and Catherine, only to be attacked by Doug, who brutally beats Lizard with a shotgun, which he also uses to shoot him multiple times. Somehow surviving Doug's onslaught, Lizard gets up and tries to shoot him, but is tackled by Ruby, an attack that sends both Lizard and his sister tumbling over a cliff.

In The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, Lizard is mentioned by the Mutant leader, Hades, as being assigned to slashing the tires of any vehicle he can find in the nuclear test village the Mutants attack, kill the inhabitants off and eventually take as their own.

Robert Joy, who portrayed Lizard, has referred to the character as "something that could only be found in a nightmare".^[1]

Relatives: Papa Jupiter (father), Goggle (brother), Ruby (sister), Pluto (cousin)

Papa Jupiter

Papa Jupiter is the patriarch of the mutants featured in The Hills Have Eyes, being the possible father of all of them, and is one of the more violent and psychotic of the clan. In the film, Papa Jupiter displays no actual birth defects, though in "The Making Of..." feature a piece of concept art for the film shows him to have a parasitic twin beneath his coat, which was never shown in the film for unexplained reasons. Papa Jupiter is portrayed by actor Billy Drago.

Papa Jupiter appears to attack the patriarch of the stranded Carter family, Bob Carter, at the Gas Haven rest stop. Bashing Bob's head against the windshield of a car, Papa Jupiter knocks him into a delirious state and drags him off to the mutants' lair with fellow mutants Pluto and Lizard.

After Lynn, Ethel and Bob Carter are all killed and Doug Bukowski leaves the trailer with the dog Beast to search for his daughter Catherine, who was abducted by the mutants, Papa Jupiter sneaks back to the trailer and steals Ethel's body. Ethel's son, Bobby Carter, later finds Papa Jupiter in the hills devouring Ethel's heart, accidentally gaining his attention as well. Chasing Bobby back to the Carters' trailer, Papa Jupiter nearly captures him and his sister, Brenda, but the two escape. Trying to chase after them, Papa Jupiter accidentally sets off a trap the two set, which causes the trailer to explode with him in it. Papa Jupiter manages to survive the trailer explosion, but is severely injured and left impaled through the chest by shrapnel and is left helpless to defend himself when Brenda Carter kills him with his own pickaxe.

In The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning graphic novel, Papa Jupiter makes several cameo appearances, mostly in crowd shots with other mutants; his near-death in the trailer explosion near the end of The Hills Have Eyes is also shown in a panel of the comic.

Billy Drago, Papa Jupiter's portrayer, has stated that the character's role in his family is interesting because "he put himself in charge of taking care of them and making sure that even in mayhem they follow certain rules".^[1]

Relatives: Lizard (son), Goggle (son), Ruby (daughter), Pluto (nephew), Papa Hades (Possible brother)

Pluto

Pluto is one of the more imposing of the mutants, being extremely large in size and exceptionally strong, shown to be capable of lifting and throwing a fully grown adult with one arm; Pluto possesses a misshapen head and face and appears to be mentally impaired. Though based upon the character of the same name from the original two The Hills Have Eyes films, Pluto is closer to the character Mercury of the first in demeanor, who, like Pluto, appears to be mentally challenged. Pluto is played by Michael Bailey Smith.

Pluto is the first mutant to appear in The Hills Have Eyes, appearing to attack a trio of men in NBC suits investigating the desert with a pickaxe, killing them and dragging them away, chained to the back of their own pickup truck. Pluto later appears in the film helping Lizard and Papa Jupiter drag the semi-conscious Bob Carter into their lair.

Later, Pluto breaks into the Carter family's trailer and captures Brenda Carter, radioing his family to tell them to cause an explosion and to set ablaze Bob Carter as a distraction so he can violate Brenda; Pluto is interrupted in his assault on Brenda by his cousin Lizard, he pushes him aside to get to Brenda himself, enraging Pluto and causing him to have a violent tantrum in the trailer, only stopping when he notices the infant Catherine Bukowski. Pluto later leaves the trailer, taking Catherine with him, after Lizard rapes Brenda and mortally wounds Ethel Carter and Lynn Bukowski.

After telling Doug Bukowski, Catherine's father, of the origin of the mutants, Big Brain has Pluto attack him. Chasing Doug throughout Big Brain's house, Pluto is briefly stopped in his chasing of Doug by Beast, Doug's pet dog, who attacks Pluto; beating Beast unconscious, Pluto resumes attacking Doug and eventually beats him into submission, chopping off two of his fingers with his axe. As Doug lay on the ground in front of Pluto, pathetically wielding a screwdriver, the nearby Big Brain begins to mock Doug's begging of Pluto not to kill him. Big Brain's mocking of Doug briefly distracts Pluto, allowing Doug to attack him with the screwdriver, impaling his foot with it, which causes Pluto to begin screaming in pain. As Pluto is left yelling, Doug, using a small American flag, impales him through the neck and put him out of the misery of choking on his own blood by striking him in the head with his own dropped axe.

In The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, Pluto makes a small, one-panel appearance, which depicts his finding of Catherine in the Carters' trailer.

Michael Bailey Smith has described Pluto as "incredibly vicious, yet at the same time kind of childlike and innocent. At one moment he's ripping off a leg and eating it like a drumstick and at another he's got these very gentle, childlike movements and bouts of laughter".^[1] During an interview with Dreadcentral.com about The Hills Have Eyes 2, Michael Bailey Smith revealed he largely enjoyed portraying Pluto, referring to him as a diverse character.^[2] Pluto has a resemblance to The Goonies character Sloth, which Michael Bailey Smith even acknowledges in his online journal. His character is also similar to Leatherface: they both are mentally retarded and unstable, scared and submissive to their family, despite being giants.

Relatives: Papa Jupiter (uncle), Lizard (cousin), Goggle (cousin), Ruby (cousin), Papa Hades (Possible Father),Chameleon(possible brother),Letch(possible brother),Hansel(possible brother),Karen Sawney Bean(possible grandma)

Ruby

Ruby is a relatively young member of the Jupiter's Clan and is portrayed as having an aversion toward her family's killing of regular humans; she is the 3rd female in Jupiter's Clan besides Big Mama and Venus. Her brother is Lizard. Several of Ruby's fingers are fused together, possibly from Syndactyly while the appearance of her face suggests Goldenhar syndrome. She is played by actress Laura Ortiz.

Ruby first appears in the film largely obscured from view at the Gas Haven where she takes a red hoodie from the Carters' car, which she wears throughout the rest of the film. When Bobby Carter accidentally knocks himself unconscious after finding the gutted remains of his dog Beauty, Ruby watches over him and hides him from Goggle, Beauty's killer.

When Lizard receives the order to kill the abducted Catherine Bukowski from Big Brain, Ruby overhears it and quickly flees with Catherine as Lizard advances on her with a meat cleaver. With Lizard chasing her, Ruby finds Catherine's father, Doug, and is about to give him Catherine when Lizard attacks him. Ducking away as Lizard beats Doug to the ground, Ruby remains helpless with Catherine as her homicidal brother advances on them. Before Lizard can attack Ruby or Catherine, Doug brutally attacks him, simultaneously beating him with a shotgun and shooting him with it. With Doug having incapacitated Lizard, Ruby gives him Catherine and, in an act of self sacrifice and freeing herself out of deformity, tackles Lizard, throwing them both off of a cliff when she sees him getting up, saving Doug and Catherine.

Ruby has been described by Robert Joy (Lizard) as one of the most heroic characters in the film and has been said by Billy Drago (Papa Jupiter) to be the only connection the mutants have to civilization and the child Papa Jupiter loves most of all. Alexandre Aja has said that Ruby is "A touch of sweetness to the madness of the mutants".^[1]

Relatives: Papa Jupiter (father), Lizard (brother), Goggle (brother), Pluto (cousin)

Venus and Mercury

Venus and Mercury are two mutant children who are apparently under the care of Big Mama. They are also two of the least dangerous mutants, which can be noted by the fact that they do not attack Doug while he is looking for Baby Catherine, as they are too busy playing with their toys. Like Ruby, Venus possibly has Goldenhar syndrome and Mercury has wide eyes and a skin disorder that causes his flesh to appear bluish. It is unknown what became of them after the movie. Venus is played by Judith Jane Vallette and Mercury is played by Adam Perrell.

Relatives papa jupiter(father) Lizard(brother) Goggle(brother) Ruby(sister) Pluto(cousin)

Mutants appearing in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Hades' Clan)

Main article: The Hills Have Eyes 2

Chameleon

A bald mutant, large and tall. He is named Chameleon because of his skin texture, which is almost like rock (suggesting a severe form of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis), helping him blend in with the surroundings. Chameleon is one of the more violent of the Hill people but has a childishness about him and he also has a great fear of his father Hades. Chameleon's name is a direct reference to the chameleon animal, with which he shares an extra long tongue and the ability to blend in with his surroundings.

Chameleon captures a young female soldier named Missy and brings her back to the mines. He calls her "Mama", indicating he might want to make her pregnant. Chameleon then attacks and attempts to rape Missy, but before he could penetrate/impregnate her, he has his tongue bitten off by her and is thrown off Missy by Hades, who rapes her. As he complains about being deprived of sex, his injuries, and the chance to have a child of his own (through Missy), Chameleon is shot and gives chase to his attackers, Amber and Napoleon, throwing the latter into the wall. Chameleon is finally killed by Napoleon who, after Amber gouges his eye, maniacally begins pulverizing Chameleon's head with a rock. Chameleon is played by Derek Mears.

Relatives: Papa Hades (father), Letch (brother), Hansel (brother), Karen Sawney Bean (paternal grandmother)

Grabber

Grabber is scarred, short and nearsighted and relies on his sense of smell in the dark. He attacks people from underground, grabbing their feet. Grabber's name is a reference to his nearsightedness and that he grabs to find his victims. He's identified in the movie credits as "Sniffer".^{[original research?]} He is first is seen behind a barracade where he watches the soldiers walk threw the tunnels,he leaves the barracade and alerts the others. after finding Chameleon dead, Grabber, having been tracking Chameleon, Delmar and Crank, opens fire on the latter two with their own machine gun, which he stole. After injuring Delmer, Grabber is killed by him and Crank, who guns him down. Grabber is portrayed by Gáspár Szabó.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Papa Hades

Hades is the current leader of the Hill People, after his beloved mother Karen Sawney Bean passed away due to radiation poisoning. Hades possessed a cunning ruthlessness and leadership skills that allowed the Hill People to survive the purge done by the U.S. Army on their home in Yuma Flats. With time and isolation, with the Hill People tribe on the verge of dying out, Hades became increasingly violent and more cruel, focusing on raping and torturing passing females, initially for pleasure, and in the long term for getting them pregnant and giving birth to healthier mutants. Hades has done this at least twice, with an anonymous blonde woman who, while giving birth to their son, was stillborn and as such, Hades killed her with a rock when she couldn't produce healthier offspring. Hades tried again when his children were battling a trainee squad of National Guardsmen, by taking a captured female soldier, PFC "Missy" Martinez, and proceeds to overpower, beat, rape and attempted to impregnate her. Hades is later killed in combat, after being shot and beaten and ultimately impaled through the mouth by Napoleon's bayonet-equipped rifle. Hades is played by Michael Bailey Smith, who also played the character of Pluto in the 2006 remake. It could be hinted that he could be related to the Jupiter family.

Relatives: Karen Sawney Bean (mother), Papa Jupiter (Possible brother) Chameleon (son), Letch (son), Hansel (son), Pluto (possible son)

Hansel

Hansel is a large member of the clan with a childlike demeanor - he is an enormous simpleton. Like Ruby from the first film, he is totally against what his family is and tries to help normal people when they are in danger. Hansel is the third son of Papa Hades.

In the alternate ending it is revealed that Hansel was in on his family members' plan all along, and when the three survivor's escape the mines, he is waiting for them, laughing while eating a human body part, telling the three surviving soldiers to "Run away!", as if he were distracting them, much like he did at the beginning of the film when he distracted a scientist, as Letch put an axe through the scientist's head. Hansel is played by David Reynolds.

Relatives: Papa Hades (father), Chameleon (brother), Letch (brother), Karen Sawney Bean (paternal grandmother)

Letch

Letch is another violent attacker of the hill people and is one of Hades' children. He has tumor like growths all over his face and body, similar to the welts and scabs on Chameleon. Despite his large frame, he is agile. Letch is an ruthless killer and goes around wearing looted army attire.

Letch first kills Dr. Foster by swinging an ax into his head, then he brutally injures Colonel Redding by impaling him with a spear and swinging him over a cliff. When the soldiers arrive, he kills Stump, as he is climbing down a jagged cliff, charging from a cave and slicing off his arm, which he uses to wave to Stump as he falls to his death. Letch later shoves Napoleon to the ground as he is inspecting various dummies placed in a room, attempting to attack Amber. Letch is poised to rape Amber, but his foot is sliced by Napoleon's bayonet, and then Amber repeatedly stabs him with the bayonet, killing him. Letch is played by Jason Oettle.

Relatives: Papa Hades (father), Chameleon (brother), Hansel (brother), Karen Sawney Bean (paternal grandmother)

Stabber

Stabber is one of the more violent members of the Hades' Clan. His head and jaw are deformed, and he has pieces of flesh and skin missing. Stabber's weapon is a cleaver. He is also quite resilient, surviving a direct gunshot.He is first seen attacking Amber who has gone to search for the others but before he could capture Amber, Mickey shoots him in the shoulder.

Throughout the film, he appears, harassing soldiers. Stabber is finally killed when he is lured into a trap where he is shot repeatedly. Stabber is played by Tyrell Kemlo.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Unknown Watcher

At the end of the film, one last mutant was shown wearing a tattered leather glove, similar to Lizard's.

Mutants appearing in The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning

Main article: The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning

Blair

Blair was a member of Hades Clan. As a mutant, she was morbidly obese and possesses a pig-like face, and had only three-fingered-hands. When the army begins its invasion of the mutant' town, Blair is put in charge of a group of mutants and asked by Hades to get information on imminent reinforcements. Blair and her men find two female soldiers; Lieutenant Bishop and Jones, bagging and tagging the crucified bodies of the police who came before the army, and successfully capture, bound, gag, strip and gang rape the two women. After finding out further information, an attack on the army camp ensues. Among those killed is a mutant strongly resembling her as seen being gunned down by a man (who also appears to be a mutant) wielding a machine-gun and opening fire at a group of people. After this, she is not seen again.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Karen Sawney Bean

The mother of Hades and original leader of the Mutants, Karen Sawney Bean is apparently descended from the legendary Sawney Bean, a legendary Scottish serial killer and cannibal.

Karen originally lived in Yuma Flats with her husband Dan and their unnamed son, living, for the most part, a simple life. When the U.S. army attempted to buy Yuma Flats for nuclear testing, Karen, along with the rest of the towns inhabitants, refused to sell their homes. This refusal culminated in group of drunken soldiers returning to Karen's home in the night and forcing her and her family out on to the street. Made to watch as Lieutenant Ryan brutalized her husband and threatened her son, Karen witnessed Lieutenant Ryan accidentally shoot and kill Dan before fleeing the scene, though not before threatening Karen and her child.

Dan's death by soldiers apparently caused Karen to rally her neighbors into taking vengeance on the army, as the next day, several army personnel returning to Yuma Flats to try and re-negotiate with the people there, were killed or injured by snipers in an attack led by Karen. This attack caused the army to retaliate against the people of Yuma Flats with extreme prejudice, as the next day they invaded with tanks. During this attack, Karen and her son were found and held captive in a dilapidated house by Lieutenant Ryan, who had lost a portion of his ear in the sniping attack. After killing Karen's son and beating her, Lieutenant Ryan was stopped from raping Karen by a superior officer, who restrained and reprimanded Ryan and freed Karen, who, while fleeing, stole Lieutenant Ryan's dog tags.

As Yuma Flats was destroyed and turned into a nuclear testing range, Karen, along with what was left of the inhabitants of Yuma Flats, lived in some nearby mines as atomic testing took place nearby. Acting as the leader of her fellows in the mines, Karen and them survived off supplies sold to them by a gas station proprietor named Jeb. It was sometime after the army finally stopped its nuclear testing that Karen and her people moved out of the mines and into the nuclear testing villages built by the military, it was also around this time that Karen discovered she was pregnant, despite not having sex since Dan had been murdered.

In the nuclear testing village, Karen still acted as leader, much to the resentment of a man named Patrick, who was suspicious of Karen's pregnancy. Karen eventually gave birth to a horrifically deformed son she named Hades, and whom she loved dearly despite his physical appearance. Having witnessed Hades' birth while spying on Karen, Patrick, disgusted by the child, who he was convinced was a bad omen and of Satanic origin, used intimidation to turn the townspeople against Karen. One night, Patrick confronted Karen with the townspeople and gave her an ultimatum—leave the town or be killed. Karen did leave the town, though not before killing and decapitating Patrick in revenge for threatening her.

Left to live in the mines with Hades, Karen and he were soon joined by others who had also given birth to mutant offspring and were driven from the town. After Jeb, who had been supplying Karen, became unable to sell anymore to her due to his business being strained, Karen made a deal with him; Jeb and his family would lure unsuspecting people into her and the Mutants' territory, where they would be killed and eaten, and in exchange, Karen would give Jeb any valuables they took from the travelers. After years of living like this, Karen eventually began to succumb to radiation poisoning caused by the nuclear radiation she had been exposed to years earlier. Becoming emaciated and bald, Karen, realizing her time had come, passed leadership of the Hill People on to Hades, telling him to keep her line alive (this, combined with the tribe almost becoming extinct following the army's purge, leads the mutants to adopt the policy of capturing, torturing and raping females until they fall pregnant and give birth to the mutants' offspring). After her death, Karen was buried in the makeshift cemetery passed through by Doug Bukowski in the first The Hills Have Eyes film.

Relatives: Papa Hades (son), Chameleon (grandson), Letch (grandson), Hansel (grandson)

Suzie

A young female mutant, Suzie has an emaciated appearance, being almost skeletally thin, and abnormally thin face and slanted eyes, as well as red hair(appearing blonde in the comic). In The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning, Hades, in a plan to hijack one of the tanks brought in by the army for their assault on the mutant town, decides to use Suzie as a distraction. Made to wear an oversized hoodie, Suzie was placed in front of a tank and managed to lure the soldiers out of it, them believing that Suzie was a normal girl due to her mutation being obscured by clothing.

Upon seeing that Suzie was a mutant, the soldiers were attacked by mutants, who proceeded to try and steal their tank; Suzie was apparently killed when a second tank operated by soldiers, seeing the mutants' killing their fellows and trying to take the other tank, opened fire on them, instantly killing several of them and incinerating Suzie's lower body.

Relatives: Unknown/none

Other appearances

Several zombie-like Mutants appear as generic enemy characters in The Hills Have Eyes game and the game "Mutant Massacre", both of which are located on the official sites for The Hills Have Eyes and The Hills Have Eyes 2; as well as lunging at the protagonist, some of these Mutants attack with weapons, such as axes.

Reception and criticism

Both Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert have criticized the mutants as being bland and personality-less monsters that had no character development and whose sole purpose was "to disgust us"; they have also stated that they would have wanted to see the mutant's lifestyles in more detail and learn more about characters such as Ruby and Big Brain, citing film The Devil's Rejects as a good example of showing and developing a "psycho family".^[3][4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3346/notes.pdf
2. ^ YouTube - The Hills Have Eyes 2 - Mutant Chat
3. ^ Ebert and Roeper
4. ^ :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: The Hills Have Eyes (xhtml)

Additional citations

1. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
2. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)
3. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
4. The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)
5. The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning (2007)