Seymour Gutz (1987 TV series)

Mutagen Man
Biographical information
Home	New York City
Aliases	Seymour Gutz
Nicknames	Mutadude
Abilities	Can temporarily change appearance
Occupation	Delivery man
Affiliation	Fly-by-Night Messengers Service
Physical description
Species	Mutant
Gender	Male
Weight	500 lbs. (not including guts)
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Eye color	Black\Blue
Hair color	Blonde (original human), None (mutant), Black w/gray streak (current human)
Out of universe information
Era(s)	1987 TV series
First appearance	Enter: Mutagen Man
Created by	Peter Laird
Voiced by	Rob Paulsen

Seymour Gutz was originally a nerdy delivery man for the Fly-by-Night Messengers Service, who suffered an unfortunate syndrome of disorientation, which hampered him at his work a lot. In one of his usual aberrations, Seymour accidentally stumbled into a secret laboratory of the Shredder's in where Krangs, special Mutagen stood boiling ready for pouring into a rocket's fuel tank so that it would be distributed by the rocket's vapor trail during takeoff all over New York City, turning ever human being into a mutant. Mutagen Man was created when Rocksteady and Bebop were happy to shoot at the unwanted intruder causing him to topple from his catwalk into the underlying vat of Mutagen.

The mutagen, that Seymour had fallen into, was so unstable that it dismembered Seymour's body into his somehow still living brain, his eyes, his mouth and his spinal cord. In order to survive, The Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop built Seymour a special teal and purple containment suit that he was forced to wear, whose torso contained a tank of mutagen that preserved the remains of his body until another resolution could be found. By chance, Seymour found out shortly thereafter that he due to his condition he could transform into almost any form, if only temporarily. However he could not turn into his old self again.

He did not like this and Shredder took advantage of this by promising to turn Seymour back into his old self permanently if he would get him a canister of Byndex-3, a substance that he and Krang needed to make permanent the effects of the mutagen in the rocket fuel. Mutagen Man agreed to this, which he does by disguising himself as a security guard, Irma, Michelangelo, an old lady, and Vernon Fenwick. As a result, Seymour came into conflict with the Turtles and April O'Neil, but after the Shredder cheated him, Seymour helped the Turtles to thwart the Shredder and Krang's plan. Donatello eventually cured Seymour of his mutation by pouring the Byndex-3 into his suit, in order to stabilize his body and having him choose a final form. Seymour Gutz reverts to human form, but chooses the appearance of a good looking man. When asked why he doesn't look anything like his photo, Seymour responded with "I may be a nerd, but I am not stupid." He then finishes the job he was required to do, which was deliver a letter to the Touch of Romance Flower Shop. He ends up going on a "night on the town" with April O'Neil.

Trivia

• Mutagen was based on a sketch made by Peter Laird for Playmates Toys, Laird originally called it "The Unknown" and would be a mutant crossing between an ape and some kind of insect that went wrong.
• His human name is a pun "see more guts" due to the fact that his organs are visible.

Gallery

Seymour Gutz (1987 TV series)/Gallery