Mutant Growth Hormone in its liquid form
Mutant Growth Hormone[]
Mutant Growth Hormone is a street drug, a special kind of serum that gives the imbiber the ability to temporarily access their own genetic mutation. This is the substance's history in the Joint Venture Universe.
Overview[]
Forms of Mutant Growth Hormone[]
Mutant Growth Hormone, or MGH, comes in three distinct forms:
Capsules: A more concentrated, but safer, form of MGH comes in the form of small blue pills, which look similar to a time-release capsule of Dextroamphetamine-Amphetamine (colloquial term: Adderall), but slightly larger and typically tinted a darker blue. The maximum safe dosage is widely considered to be one capsule every twenty-four hours, and one MGH capsule will grant a person an active mutation for a full twelve, after which the drug will wear off and they will regress to baseline homo sapiens.
Ingestable Serum: The first stable form of MGH, this is a sky-blue liquid that is ingested in varying doses to grant humans and latent mutants access to superhuman abilities for a short period of time. This is a risky way to take MGH, as it is easy to overdose on the serum without careful measurement and preparation, but use as directed is still largely considered safe.
Aerosol/Inhaler: A highly concentrated burst of the substance in aerosol form is breathed directly into the lungs. The mutations granted from a single "puff", or inhaled dose, are of shorter duration (lasting one to four hours depending on a number of factors), but potentially considerably stronger, depending on the form the mutation takes at manifestation. However, multiple puffs of the aerosol form of MGH are almost guaranteed to result in an overdose, making it the most dangerous legal way to take the substance.
Injected Serum: A highly illegal variant of MGH is the raw, injectable serum, which bypasses the digestive process and inserts the undiluted serum directly into the bloodstream. Even 1/100 of a milliliter (0.01 mL) of MGH has been proven to be a dangerously high concentration when injected directly, without the process of ingestion and digestion to act as a buffer. However, it is also the fastest way for the mutation to manifest, and the longest-lasting - one injection can activate a mutation for up to seven days, and so this is the version most commonly used to empower people within the world's various criminal organizations.
Properties[]
Mutant Growth Hormone, in its most common form, has three distinct effects:
- Human: When taken by a baseline homo sapien, MGH will temporarily grant that person a mutation resembling an active X-Gene. they will read as a genetic mutant and be able to access mutant powers. For all intents and purposes,they will be a mutant, though the proper term is still 'mutate', or 'mutated human', as the power is artificially induced and not pemanent. The powers MGH grants a baseline human are wholly dependent on the genetic material used to concoct that sample of the serum; MGH harvested from Banshee will always grant a human user his sonic powers, for instance.
- Latent Mutant: When taken by a latent mutant or a mutant whose X-Gene has been deactivated through some means, MGH will restore that mutant's active X-Gene regardless of whose DNA was used. Should Storm, for instance, take MGH harvested from Nightcrawler after losing her atmokinetic powers, she will not develop his blue fur, teleportation powers, or unique physiognomy, but instead regain her own power to control the weather.
- Mutant: When taken by a mutant with an active X-Gene whose mutation has not been deactivated, MGH will heighten that mutant's powers dramatically. Mystique, the leader of Clan Darkholme, keeps a supply of MGH on hand to give her the ability to mimic the physical powers of any mutant she impersonates (superhuman strength, functioning wings, etc.), as well as alter her physical mass, something she cannot do natively.
Overdose Risks[]
MGH, taken in small amounts as directed by a medical professional, can temporarily grant someone powers. However, despite popular belief, an overdose of MGH will not give someone stronger powers for longer; rather, it increases the strength of the mutation itself. While the distinction sounds arbitrary to the layman, a stronger mutagenic process does not enhance the "mutant power" that manifests; instead, it makes it more likely that the "power" will rage out of control, destabilizing the user's brain or body and killing them with their own new, uncontrolled mutation.
As an example, telepathy is one of the most common mutations in the Joint Venture Universe. There is a roughly 15-20% chance that any given human who takes MGH will manifest some form of telepathic, empathic, or otherwise neuro-affective psychic ability. In regular doses, regardless of which delivery system they use, the mutated human will manifest that power exactly as they would have if an X-Gene had activated naturally within them. A higher dose does not make the telepathic ability stronger, nor grant telekinesis (a common companion power to telepathy); if the MGH user's X-Gene was not encoded with the potential for telekinesis, they will not manifest it no matter how much MGH they take. Instead, upon an MGH overdose, the user's telepathy will become more sensitive when it manifests, and they will have considerably greater difficulty screening out the thoughts of others, or controlling their own projected thoughts. In extreme cases, MGH overdose will cause the manifested telepath to experience any traumatic event happening nearby, be it a fight, an argument, or an instance of physical abuse, as if it were happening to them first hand, and upon experiencing the end of a life vicariously through this uncontrolled telepathy, they too will die.
History[]
Disambiguation - "I Can't Believe It's Not Erskine"[]
While the true origin of the formula for Mutant Growth Hormone is unknown, it is widely believed to have links to the original Super-Soldier Serum designed by the late Abraham Erskine. The Erskine Formula a specifically designed compound of chemicals and hormones designed specifically to take a baseline member of the homo sapiens species and elevate them, physically and mentally to their highest possible state. The few people who have taken this original formula and survived are considered members of the subspecies homo sapiens superior (not to be confused with mutants, whose classification is homo sapiens mutatis mutandis).
However, there was a very limited batch of the serum created before the assassination of Dr. Erskine, and so there are only four confirmed cases of homo sapiens superior in history, three of whom have either passed away or disappeared without a trace since the first confirmed success in 1942, while the first referenced iteration of Mutant Growth Hormone did not surface in the modern era until the 2000s. It is highly unlikely that a sample of the Erskine formula would have remained viable and unused for the requisite decades for the two substances to be one and the same. Any similarities, therefore, between the Erskine Super-Soldier Serum and Mutant Growth Hormone as it exists today are considered to be coincidental overlap, like two separate math problems arriving at a common solution.
Origin - The McCoy formula ("Lo, A Beast Is Born!")[]
Mutant Growth Hormone as it exists today can be conclusively traced back to the pharmaceutical division of the Brand Corporation, where Hank McCoy, then an intern to Dr. Linda Donaldson, conducted experiments to test Professor Charles Xavier and Dr. Moira Kinross' Theory of Self-Actualizing Homomorphism. The Xavier-Kinross Theory hypothesized that mutant genes, while malleable, would always activate the same way within a human body once triggered, giving a person the same "mutant power" regardless of how often the X-Gene was activated or deactivated. McCoy and Donaldson created an experimental formula that could temporarily activate dormant "X-Genes" in baseline humans and latent mutants whose powers had not yet activated, and with it, successfully proved the Xavier-Kinross Theory by mutating willing volunteers multiple times, administering a new dose of the formula when the old dose wore off. This first iteration was referred to as simply 'mutagen serum', though its name would later be changed to 'the McCoy Formula' since Hank McCoy was not only its co-designer, but the "Patient Zero" for its unpredictable side effects.
The McCoy Formula is illegal in multiple countries due to those side effects. As McCoy discovered firsthand, while the mutagen serum only temporarily gave ordinary homo sapiens or latent mutants active mutations, a mutant who drank it would have their mutation augmented or enhanced, permanently, and in unpredictable ways. McCoy was initially only born with a genetic atavism that gave him unnaturally large hands and feet, superhuman strength and agility, and quadridexterity, the ability to use both hands and feet with equal proficiency. The mutagen serum heightened his strength and agility even further, gave him animal-like senses and a low-level regenerative healing factor, and he grew fangs, claws, and a thick coat of shaggy blue fur, all of which he retains to this day. In the wake of this mutation, and the death of Dr. Linda Donaldson under mysterious circumstances, Hank McCoy confiscated the last samples of the McCoy formula and vowed never to create it again.
However, the McCoy formula was only the first iteration of what would eventually become one of the most sought-after drugs in human history.
The Telford Reformulation - "Designer Genes"[]
The next iteration of mutagen serum would be concocted by Porter Telford, a professional thief and amateur chemist with the mutant power of teleportation. Telford, a member of Factor Six at the time who went by the code name "Vanisher", broke into the laboratory where Hank McCoy was working on a cure for his newly advanced mutation, and stole the last remaining sample of McCoy's original mutagen serum.
While initially only looking to replicate, repackage, and sell the mutagen serum to the highest bidder, Vanisher's mediocre chemistry skills resulted in a variant of the serum that was drastically different, and far more dangerous. He called the new serum his "Designer Genes", and sold it for thousands of dollars per dose before learning the truth of his reformulation.
The Telford serum was highly volatile, even by MGH standards: it would grant a greater variety of mutations than the McCoy formula, literally mutating the user differently each time it was used. This violated the Xavier-Kinross Principle of Self-Actualizing Homomorphism, and at first seemed to debunk it. However, the Telford formula's mutations would be dangerously unstable and almost invariably burn themselves out, causing physical and mental damage to the user and ultimately killing them as their powers, manifesting differently with each new dose of the Designer Genes serum, became impossible to control.
Despite the Vanisher's disappearance following the dissolution of Factor Six and the criminalization and subsequent mass destruction of all samples of the Telford Reformulation of MGH, instances of this unstable, dangerous variant of the drug still appear from time to time, and almost invariably lead to tragic consequences for anyone involved.
Sinister Stabilization and Designation - The Hellfire Harvest[]
Following the failure of Designer Genes, it was believed the world had seen the last of mutagenic formulae and "mutant power serums". However, by the early 2010s, 'mutant envy' was in full force, and the criminal underworld had taken notice.
Nathaniel Essex, the mutation geneticist and sorcerer known as Mr. Sinister, eventually found a sample of the Telford Reformulation of the mutagen serum, and joined forces with the Hellfire Club, who had secured one of the last surviving samples of the original McCoy formula from the Brand Corporation upon buying them out. Between Essex and Hellfire's top-of-the-line science teams, they learned how to combine the McCoy and Telford versions of the serum into a compound both more malleable and more stable than either of its constituent components.
Sinister, unsurprisingly, came up with the concept of harvesting the DNA of specific mutants in order to create specific serums, to trigger those exact mutations within human and latent mutant test subjects. The end result, mutant DNA combined with the two previous iterations of the mutagen serum, was the first recorded instance of the modern Mutant Growth Hormone - named for the genetic material that occurs naturally within mutants, and was used to stabilize the serum and give it the consistent effects it is known to have today.