Why are all Super Mutants male?

At least they all sound male...but why? I don't really know of any super mutant backstory, such as how they were created (which may lead to an answer), but I never once heard a super mutant that sounded female when they spoke.


Not all super mutants are male.

Super Mutants are sterile. The nature of the FEV virus rewrites their genetic code from scratch, from exposure to particular strains of the virus -- mutants are NOT born, but rather they are recreated. The virus removes both primary and secondary sexual characteristics and leaves all the mutants sterile. Some mutants have male genitalia (seen by losing an arm wrestling match with Francis in FO2, then becoming his personal gimp for the night). Of course, this doesn't stop them from engaging in intercourse, but they are unable to breed.

The only two super mutants that attempt to pass off as female are Tabitha on Black Mountain and Lily from Jacobstown in FO:NV. Their voices, however, are not female, but rather attempting to emulate a female voice, similar to a male speaking in a falsetto tone.

Not all Super Mutants are male, it's just we haven't seen any female Super Mutants yet in any of the games to confirm this. East Coast super mutants seen in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 lack genitalia, but the West Coast super mutants seen in Fallout 1 (not F:NV) could have genitalia (a few have it).


Actually the super mutant females are confirmed in Fallout 1 alongside the problem they can not breed. The strange thing is you never see a female super mutant or maybe you do see them but are unable to identify them.

To clear it up there will be some spoilers from Fallout 1 so you best stop reading if you intend to play it.

The last objective in Fallout 1 is to dispose of the leader of these super mutants. It is a strange mutant which seems to be an ex overseer hiding in his vault. When you meet him you start with a debate which if done right (includes some previous side quests) will lead to your victory without any battle.

It will explain that humans and super mutants don't go along and will battle each other until there is nothing left. That is why he established this cult and engaged the war between the 2 species, but he had to chose which side to join and he joined the mutants simply because they have a better chance of survival in this new world (what a great guy).

Now this leads to the situation where you may have a proof that super mutants simply lack the ability to breed (a quest). By showing him the proof he will then call his female super mutants to confirm that none of them are pregnant while expecting that some of them should be by now. Since it is such a good guy it is now in its conflict and sees it chose the wrong side. He proceeds by setting a countdown timer on a nuclear bomb in its possession. You run away and the whole cult is being destroyed.