Mutant Enemy

Background

This is the production company of Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Angel. It is named after Whedon's first typewriter he got at 15, as revealed in an interview on disc three of the first season of Buffy.

(March 10, 1997- )

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Nicknames: "Grr!! Argh!!", "Paper Monster"

Logo: In front of a white piece of display board, we see a paper cutout of an angry-looking monster (animated by Joss Whedon himself) moving from right to left. The text "MUTANT ENEMY INC." is scrawled onto the display board in a "pointy" style, with "MUTANT" in red, "ENEMY" in blue, and "INC." in black.

Trivia:

• This logo was spoofed in an episode of Robot Chicken, titled "Rabbits on a Rollercoaster", where Joss Whedon guest stars as himself (in doll form). As the Mutant Enemy rips apart the city, the scene cuts to an office where Joss is playing with paper cutouts and an executive says to him, "Come on Joss, that's why you were kicked off Wonder Woman.". To which Joss holds up one of the monsters and says "Grr, argh!"
• The BTVS episode "Bargaining (Part 1)" references the end-of-credits logo. Tara gives Giles a small rubber monster and says "Grrr. Argghh.".
• On the 7th season of BTVS, there is a species of ancient vampires called "Turok-Han" or Ubervamps. They look like more detailed versions of the Mutant Enemy.

Variants:

• On the BTVS episode "Amends", the monster wears a Santa hat. Jingling bells are heard in the background while the monster says his normal line.
• On the BTVS season 3 finale "Graduation Day (Part 2)", the monster wears a graduation cap.
• On the BTVS season 5 premiere "The Freshman", as well as "Living Conditions", "The Harsh Light of Day", "Fear, Itself", and "Beer Bad", the logo is cropped for 16:9 aspect ratio, along with the Kuzui Entertainment and Sandollar logos.
• Starting with the BTVS episode "Wild at Heart", the logo is vertically stretched correctly (to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio) and we see a little more of the lower half of the monster.
• On the BTVS series finale "Chosen", the monster turns his head and pulls a face at the viewer while moving.
• On Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "INC." is replaced with "eTC".

FX/SFX: The monster moving.

Music/Sounds: Joss Whedon saying "Grr! Argh!" in a very unconvincing manner.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On ABC airings of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the audio is cut off by a voice-over and a generic theme.
• On season 1 of BTVS, the monster says his line two pitches lower.
• On the BTVS episode "Becoming (Part 2)", the monster says "Ooh, I need a hug!"
• On the BTVS episode "Once More, with Feeling", the monster sings the line in a falsetto.
• On the BTVS episode "Storyteller", the monster sings "We are as Gods!"

Availability: Common. It appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel, the short-lived cult hit Firefly, and Dollhouse. Currently seen on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Editor's Note: This logo looks very low-budget, and along with the paper monster and unconvincing growl, it looks like it was it was filmed on an old camcorder (which, according to some sources, is true). However, this was all done intentionally for comic effect.