Please help me identify my vintage Specialized Rockhopper

[Vesatoro]

There's a type of bike which is designed to have two different wheel sizes, but with the larger in the front, to take advantage of the greater rollover ability. It was named after the haircut (business in the front, party out back). However yours is smaller in the front, hence the "reverse mullet"

Yes, and the 24" rear wheel of the ancient 26/24 mullets enabled the lightest gear to be lighter for climbing than with the 26" wheel. The selection of gears available was a lot more limited on the lighter range than today.