Question International opinion on Mutants

So, while we know a lot about how the US government perceives mutants, how exactly do other countries and governments view mutants as a whole? Outside of factional opinions (in any country or organised government there will be both dissenting groups and supporting groups- there wouldn't be much point to democracy otherwise!), what is each nation's stance on mutants?

- We know that the US government is happy to have mutants serving in the military, and is supportive of the innovation brought in by devisors and gadgeteers. We also know that they're OK with superhero teams and groups operating in a legitimate fashion.

- Australia (well, at the very least Western Australia, as seen in JG's stories) seems to have a accepting view on mutation as a whole, or at least a positive opinion on the treatment of mutants prone to uncontrollable violence. However, I see Aussies having simular laws to the US; in part due to our close ties IRL with the ANZUS treaty; and also in part to the way that...previous (trying to avoid bringing in RL politics here) governments have dealt with issues like gun control- which is the closest comparable topic I could think of.

- the EU is a unknown, at least as far as I remember. There's certainly a fair share of bigots, as seen in the Kayada stories; but I'm unsure whether these opinions extend to government policy. Does the EU have mutant battalions in the militaries of their respective countries? Do they seek to boost innovation by accepting gadgeteer-based tech? Do they actively support mutant deputisation on a civil level?

- Japan apparently adores gadgeteers on any level, but then again: that's Japan for you.

- What about dictatorships like North Korea, or countries with a unstable political system such as many of the countries within the African continent?

- How about Russia? I'd think that they'd be all for placing mutants in their military, but I don't know much about Russia as a country. I last studied Russian history back in high school for all of one unit; and it was about the Soviet Union during the period prior to WWII. So, yeah. Nothing I've read (AFAIR) in the canon seems to say much about Russian policy on mutants.

- What about smaller, less-politically active places like the Pacific Islands?

I wonder about that myself.

I particularly wonder about what influence Dr Reaper (not to mention other A list supervillians) has on policies. He is an example of how horrible a mutant can be, so some governments might recoil from mutants, but I feel that most will think "We need mutants on our side to have a hope of fighting him if he comes for us." I think that many will feel that way.

Another thing I wonder about is whether some of smaller countries still exist. If Dr. Reaper were to show up in Nauru, say, what could stop him from killing everyone?

By the way, we have seen China's attitude towards mutants -- in Gen 1. they try to use them; in Gen 2, I think the Iron Dragon's opinion about mutants is the same as his opinion of anybody else: they're fine if they do what he says, otherwise not.

Actually, there's no evidence that Dr/ Prof. Reaper is a mutant. Far worse, he's a Science Villain.

And Science Villains are far worse than mutants. Mutants have to breed to multiply; Science Villains only need access to manufacturing to go expand their power base.

CrazyMinh wrote: - Australia (well, at the very least Western Australia, as seen in JG's stories) seems to have a accepting view on mutation as a whole, or at least a positive opinion on the treatment of mutants prone to uncontrollable violence.

It might be more accurate to say that WU Australia sees ragers more like explosive devices. Handled responsibly, they're an important part of the modern world. Kicked around and dropped into a crowd of people, they can be a far more effective weapon than any handgun you imagine.

WoG has it that Australia also has a very high GSD rate. Just another thing to cope with?

Last time the topic was brought up, I think it was stated that Germany sees mutants as having a greater responsibility to society. There may be an expectation that the government help train and place them into an industry or perhaps the police forces.

Poland might prefer militarizing their mutant population. Their past history with Germany, Lithuania, and Russia doesn't lend itself to trust.

Moscow might strongly prefer to militarize any advantage they can find against threats like Dr. Reaper and the Iron Dragon.

The attitude in the UK is rather different from the USA.
There is a history (going back to WW2) of accepting mutants as long as they dont run amok. There is small scale and local bigotry, of course, but its not a national thing.
After WW2 and through the cold war, the government had a policy of employing mutants, as a mutant with a job is a lot less likely to turn to villainy to survive, and the military and the tech industry loved them. There are still villains, of course, but its a smaller percentage.
The government runs paranormal teams under AEGIS, and a powerful mutant would certainly be approached, but not coerced (its a system that works well in a small country like the UK)
There is a system of registration (MID cards are also used for international purposes), and it is illegal not to register. The MCO is tolerated, but they have far less power than in the US for a number of reasons. Once a low level mutant (like Morganaq's sister Ceridwen) has been tested, checked and registered they are basically left alone.

I'm not sure about many of the others, but I believe there is was a student listed from India (Silver maybe) and there's RPG of the GhostWalkers.

Both are at Whateley because of less than welcoming governments and local sentiments.

India is a little unclear, because they do have their own super team, but we don't know much about them. Individual regional sentiments could be a big part of how people react.

"Go by RPG," Vasiliy said, puffing his chest out a bit, "because power is like RPG. After manifested, Russian army and MCO sent troops. Took out three tanks and five BMPs, just like RPGs hit them. Managed to get to American consulate, where was given special mutant visa."

On second thought, it might be RPG's own fault...

We do know of two(*) Russian mutants at least: RPG and Chyna Syndrome. RPG got in trouble with Russian armed forces and escaped to American consulate. Chyna Syndrome appears to have emigrated to the US permanently.
Perhaps it is that Russia tends to... pressure mutants into a military career? And neither RPG nor Chyna liked the idea of being drafted at fourteen?

I'm not canon, but I have been struggling with the idea of mutants in Brazilian society for my Mezzo origin story. My general view is that Brazilians are for the most part (yes, there are exceptions. We have one as President right now. Your point?) have a live-and-let-live outlook, and we are not really big into the whole "service to the society" thing.

So, I think there would be a *few* superheroes (but not in an official capacity, mostly because government jobs don't pay that well), a bunch of supervillains who are not really organized enough to be a serious threat (more of the bank-robber and mob-enforcer category than the genocidal category), and most supers trying to make a buck either by going the showbiz route, the "corporate mascot" route or by leveraging their powers for minor scams.
And the way our legal framework is, there is simply no way that the MCO would have any real authority -- they would have to be restricted to an advisory role. I think they wouldn't even get to issue MIDs.

(*)EDIT: Isn't Glissade Russian too? Let me check... yeah, she's the third one we know of, and also there was the infamous "Project Steel Soldier," which also might hint at the level of interest for supersoldiers in Russia military.

Katssun wrote: I'm not sure about many of the others, but I believe there is was a student listed from India (Silver maybe) and there's RPG of the GhostWalkers.

Both are at Whateley because of less than welcoming governments and local sentiments.

India is a little unclear, because they do have their own super team, but we don't know much about them. Individual regional sentiments could be a big part of how people react.

"Go by RPG," Vasiliy said, puffing his chest out a bit, "because power is like RPG. After manifested, Russian army and MCO sent troops. Took out three tanks and five BMPs, just like RPGs hit them. Managed to get to American consulate, where was given special mutant visa."

On second thought, it might be RPG's own fault...

Yeah, blowing up the governments tanks doesn't tend to endear you to them...

We'll learn more about Japanese attitudes toward mutants in a Gen 2 story I'm working on.

Not a canon opinion either, but...

From what I've learned about Scandinavia, the way the MCO preferes to operate, disrupting public order to proactively intrude on the personal lives of law-abiding citizens would be seen as deeply offensive. One doesn't have to like mutants personally to distrust the New American Gestapo. Extrapolating from the seed material touching on WWII and the Cold War, a mutant manifestation would be of deep interest to the governments, as one can never be too sure that it's not the result of some long-buried Nazi plan. That might be one of the instances in which a Middle Eastern mutant might be afforded more of a reasonable doubt than a Danish mutant.

Considering the population size and a 1-in-a-million manifestation rate, one might expect 25 mutants, give or take, and they're likely to be hired away by the English or Germans. Science heros are likely more common and more respected. Science villains might be active in organized crime or identitarian hate groups.

Much like the United Kingdom and Ireland, I see the area as fostering many more supernatural paranormals, who'd in turn be of sufficient cultural and national security value for governments to keep track of their aboriginal populations -- along with the occasional deadly Lovecraftian menace. In my own stories, there remain a couple of entrances to Jötunheimr; the Norwegian and Swedish governments have a keen interest in who can travel them, and share information with Denmark, the UK (Summer Country, Avalon, Ys), Iceland (almost certainly a portal to Muspelheim), and Ireland (Tir na nOg).

Mixing in some IRL events, Denmark's Crown Princess Mary was born in Hobart, Australia. Denmark might be willing to adopt Australia's red band custom ... depending on how it's presented. Sure, it's intended to uphold public order and safety, but the country hasn't entirely forgotten the Germans and their yellow star badges.

You know what *American politicians* supposedly think... As for the US Government rank and file, we've shown mostly the military's view... but the bureaucrats, 'spc Treasury?

MageOhki wrote: You know what *American politicians* supposedly think... As for the US Government rank and file, we've shown mostly the military's view... but the bureaucrats, 'spc Treasury?

Interior: Take a look at the lands that National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, etc. are tasked to manage and/or monitor. Aside from the existing public safety issues, now you've got supervillains and others looking for a quiet place to hole up, preferably not in any of the sacred spaces and Class X sites. Also, Yig can be pretty unforgiving of people killing his rattlesnakes.

I specifically said Treasury for a reason. And think about some of the powers mutants have (are you *sure* the CIA wouldn't want as many telepaths as they can snarf?), and think what that'd mean the burecrats actually having to *work!*

Side note: Think about how *much* money gag/dev bring into Japan's tax coffers, to the point the Gov't *subsidies* and corps *pay* for full rides at top flight HS, and ladder schools at that.

(FYI: To go to High School in Japan, it has to be *paid* for by the parents, average of 300,000 yen a year. Or 3k US a year High end high schools/ladder schools of course cost more, and the school/s that are meant to handle high exemplars and dev/gags *cost* Yet Corps pay for it with a *smile* And if they didn't, the gov't *WOULD*)

MageOhki wrote: I specifically said Treasury for a reason.

Which is why I left the bait hanging on the hook. There's more than audits to be dealt with. The last I heard, it's gotten to point they need a team of clairvoyants and gadgeteers, possibly a necromancer or two, just to upgrade their data storage systems.

Dealing with organized crime (Treasury and Justice) runs into the problem that telepathy doesn't work on the dead.
Forensic accounting and Finding does.

Esper recruiting by the black budget agencies has already been shown in canon, and the FBI would love them some Exemplars (sturdy, smart, and look good on the stand? Yes, please.)

Sorry for the digging out, but I was rereading The Big Idea, and the part where in France burden of the proof lies with the accused was used against Charge... I take it it is a MCO only thing here, or a mistake? Because the French legal system is supposed to place burden of the proof on the accusation/plaintiff (and the victim when they claim damage) and use presumption of innocence. In Murder trial, for instance, accusation has to present enough prima facie proofs of the murder and the accused's guilt before more proofs become to enter into play.
Heck, the Code Napoleon itself was referring to that, although its use of remands could be seen as a de facto 'guilty until proven innocent' state of mind.
And finally... Fact is, the Code Napoleon has been, and is updated on several point since it is, welp, a more than two centuries old document.

It was discussed in the forums at the time. It's a common misconception in the U.S., probably due to confusion about the role of the Juge d'Instruction -- which is not the one who will preside over the judgment. Rather, the Juge d'Instructio's role has more overlap with what a District Attorney would do, Unfortunately, Bek fell victim to this mistake. Fortunately, it has minimal impact on the plot.

Thank you for the answer. Still, after reading that story back, it does make me curious about the exact mutant situation in France. And how typical Charge's case was there...

Some of the Charge stories by ElrodW deal a bit with that. Charge had her share of problems with antimutant bigotry and an overzealous French MCO. OTOH, the Bordeaux superheroes managed to handle that, and the French judicial system slapped down hard the MCO.