Pins are crucial in the world of NEO: The World Ends With You as they provide the player characters with the powers they use in combat to defeat enemies. As you complete battles you'll earn PP, which is used to level up your Pins and makes them stronger in a variety of ways.
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Some Pins have the ability to evolve once they've reached the highest level, and you'll be prompted with a decision to evolve them once that happens. The game is even nice enough to tell you which Pins evolve on the third tab of their description box in the menu. Eventually, you'll run into a Pin where next to "Evolution" there is a "???" instead of a Yes or No — this means that this Pin cannot be evolved but must be mutated instead.
NOTE: This guide contains spoilers for every party member obtained throughout the game.
What Is Mutation?
Mutation happens in the exact same way as evolution — all you have to do is level the Pin up to its maximum level and then select the option to mutate it when prompted. However, mutations do have one more requirement — that Pin must be equipped on a specific character when it hits its maximum level in order to mutate.
As to which character is needed for each mutation, that information is not available to you for most of the game. Once you reach Week 3 Day 6 however, you can complete a quest that will unlock the ability to view mutation requirements on the Social Network. Alternatively, you could just look up that Pin here — you don't need that ability unlocked in order for a mutation to occur.
Every Mutatable Pin
The following table lists every single Pin that must be equipped on a certain character in order to evolve/mutate it, as well as what level it needs to be at.
| No. | Pin Name | Brand | Character | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 004 | Once Upon a Dream | Top o' Topo | Fret | 5 |
| 008 | My Precious Moments | Top o' Topo | Rindo | 15 |
| 011 | Riled-Up Ribbon | Top o' Topo | Neku | 3 |
| 016 | Topo the Adventurous | Top o' Topo | Beat | 5 |
| 021 | The Benevolent King | Top o' Topo | Shoka | 10 |
| 032 | Disco Divekick | Joli bécot | Beat | 3 |
| 055 | Slashcicle | Tigre PUNKS | Beat | 6 |
| 068 | Classical Cacophony | Cony x Cony | Neku | 5 |
| 073 | Polar Princess | Cony x Cony | Fret | 5 |
| 097 | Kocho Void | RyuGu | Shoka | 3 |
| 114 | Be of Two Mines | garagara | Shoka | 3 |
| 128 | Let the Rain Fall Down | IL CAVALLO DEL RE | Minamimoto | 5 |
| 145 | The Great Balloon Voyage | Shepherd House | Nagi | 3 |
| 153 | A Moonlit Night Inside | Shepherd House | Nagi | 3 |
| 156 | A Cozy Hilltop Windmill | Shepherd House | Nagi | 5 |
| 161 | The Wooly Jazz Player | Shepherd House | Rindo | 5 |
| 166 | Shishio | Jupiter of the Monkey | Rindo | 7 |
| 179 | Jupiter of the Monkey II | Jupiter of the Monkey | Neku | 6 |
| 192 | No Turning Back | MONOCROW | Minamimoto | 3 |
| 215 | Lovebird Magnum | NATURAL PUPPY | Fret | 5 |
| 239 | HOG FANG | HOG FANG | Beat | 10 |
| 267 | Doku Doku Panic | croaky panic | Shoka | 5 |
| 271 | Snap Crackle Popcorn | croaky panic | Nagi | 3 |
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