The Inhumans are a
secret race of superhumans within the
Marvel Universe. Although at first just background characters for the
Fantastic Four, they've since become involved with other characters and have even starred in their own series occasionally.
Created by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby, the Inhumans were once primitive humans, though experiments performed on them long ago by the extraterrestrial Kree race (the same race that
CaptainMar-Vell belongs to) gave them advanced intelligence. With time, The Kree forgot about their creations and they where left alone to form their own civilization, located on Attilan aka "The Great Refuge", a walled city on an island in the Atlantic sea. Eventually, they discovered a substance called
"terrigen" that either gave people superpowers, a bizarre appearance, or both. They ended up basing their very culture on its use (and
Genetic Engineering in general.)
However, the Inhumans are very xenophobic, and went as far as moving
their entire city (with help from The Eternals, another hidden race) to the Himalayas to avoid being discovered by humans. They were found there by the Fantastic Four, and convinced to reveal themselves publicly, though their history of relations with the rest of the world is spotty. Later the city was moved to the "Blue Area of the Moon" (also created by the Kree) which has a breathable atmosphere.
The Inhumans are a
monarchy whose Royal Family tends to be among their most powerful members; they also
go out and kick butt when necessary. Their king is Black Bolt, who besides being a
Flying Brick with
electrical powers also has a voice that can literally destroy cities; he is thus forced to remain silent, communicating only by sign language (his wife, Medusa, often translates for him). Bolt's brother, Maximus,
hates him out of envy and has tried to usurp the crown many times. At one point their cousin Crystal had a romantic relationship with Johnny Storm (The Human Torch of the Fantastic Four) and has even been a member of that group and of
The Avengers. However she ended up marrying the mutant hero Quicksilver instead. They had a daughter, Luna, who has often been a target of villainous plans, what with being related not just to the Royal Inhumans but also to the
X-Men's foe Magneto.
Other Royal family members include Karnak, a martial artist; Triton, a
fish-man; and the satyr-like Gorgon, who can stomp really, really hard. They also have Lockjaw,
a bulldog the size of a bull who has
teleportation powers and who may or may not be of human intelligence.
Recently The Inhumans
renewed their ties with The Kree and fought on their side against the alien Shi'ar Empire in the
War Of Kings miniseries.
Not related to
Inhuman,
Inhumanable Alien Rights,
Inhuman Human, The
Inhumanoids or
Inhuman Resources.
Tropes related to The Inhumans:
- Animal Superheroes: Lockjaw, who even leads the Pet Avengers (in their own series!)
- Armed With Canon: The debate over whether Lockjaw is an inhuman or a mutated dog.
- Badass Normal: Karnak never underwent the Terrigen process, after those in charge saw how drastic his brother Triton's mutation was, they didn't want to risk it a second time. Instead, he was trained in Inhuman martial arts and uses his high intellect to find the weak points in people and objects. Many people who Did Not Do the Research assume this is a superpower from the Mists.
- Because Destiny Says So: Part of the reason the Inhumans and the Universal Inhumans developed the way they did is because the Supreme Intelligence believe an anomaly (Blackbolt's birth) in their genetics program would lead to its destruction.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch and Yeti: One Abominable Snowman (among several found in the Marvel Universe) turned out to be an Inhuman.
- Big Friendly Dog: Lockjaw
- Blessed with Suck: Black Bolt (only about his voice powers however.)
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Karnak, is able to find the "weaknesses" in nearly all objects or organisms not because of any Inhuman Terrgen mist mutation power but just because of dedication to a discipline he learned being raised at a Inhuman seminary.
- City in a Bottle: The Inhuman capital Attilan at one point.
- Cool Starship: The Inhuman capital Attilan as of the end of the Secret Invasion.
- Culture Clash: A one point a exchange program was set up for Inhuman students to attend a US college. This ends as can be expected given the situation.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Lockjaw has acted both intelligent or just like a normal dog at different times, Depending on the Writer.
- Elemental Powers: Crystal has the four main ones
- Fiery Redhead: Medusa, who has Prehensile Hair.
- The Filch: Luna, though she later was given powers with terrigen.
- Goo Goo Godlike: Black Bolt's cries destroyed half his city when he was born.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Luna, being half Inhuman and half Mutant. Curiously, the result was a normal human.
- Until the Son of M mini, where exposure to the terrigen mist turn her to a empath.
- Hannibal Lecture: Maximus is this or a Cloudcuckoolander, or both, it really depemds on his mood today.
- He Who Must Not Be Heard: Guess who.
- Heel Face Revolving Door: Maximus, though he seems to have been on the Face side of the door for the most part since Secret Invasion.
- Humans Are Bastards: Part of the reason for the "Silent War" between the Earth inhumans and the US government was that the US confiscated the Terrigen mist crystals that were stolen in Son of M, refused to return them and attempted to use them to make weapons.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Bolt, thanks to Medusa.
- Interspecies Romance: Crystal and Johnny, then Crystal and Quicksilver, then Crystal and Ronan.
- Kissing Cousins: Bolt and Medusa are cousins.
- Make Me Wanna Shout
- Mr. Exposition: All of the Inhumans. They just love to talk I guess.
- This probably arose because for a long time, the early Fantastic Four issues would cut back to the Inhumans trapped in their city for a brief update, and there had to be a dialogue recap for new readers...and the idea that redundant exposition is the Inhumans' hat just stuck.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Lockjaw... maybe.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Black Bolt.
- Prehensile Hair: Medusa
- Servant Race: The Alpha Primitives
- Shockwave Stomp: Gorgon's chief ability
- The Silent Bob
- Steven Ulysses Perhero: Black Bolt's full name is Blackagar Boltagon.
- Strangled by the Red String: Crystal and Johnny.
- A subdued version of this can be seen again with Crystal and Ronanthe Accuser
- Super Empowering: via Terrigen.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Triton will sometimes get a mission or so that involves his swimming. Including his part during the Secret Invasion mini.
- Ultraterrestrials: The Earth based inhumans, though they don't live on Earth anymore.
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