History Series / Inhumans

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Despite living on the Moon for centuries, they speak conveniently speak American English. Averted with the sign language Black Bolt and Medusa employ, as they use a language they created themselves instead of the relatively-young American Sign Language.

Curiously, the existence of the show has not ''officially'' replaced the now-unscheduled movie, although that may have changed as a result of Marvel's plans shifting.

* {{Expy}}: Let see, we have a highly intelligent {{Adorkable}} blonde, who's awkward and quirkly, who befriends the heroes and even helps out with her knowledge of technology. Are we describing Louise Fisher of this series, or [[Series/{{Arrow}} Felicity Smoak]]? ''Previously TV'' (''Website/TelevisionWithoutPity''-type website and forum) even nicknames her "Fauxlicity Smoak."

** The Inhumans were discovered by ComicBook/TheFantasticFour in the comics with Medusa being a (brainwashed) member of their EvilCounterpart the Frightful Four, but due to 20th Century Fox owning the rights to the super hero group and related cast, they are not present in the MCU.

* GilliganCut: When Karnak chews out Gorgon for letting the hover record footage of his hoof crushing it, fearing what Earthlings would happen if they saw it, the latter has this to say:

* SignLanguage: How Black Bolt communicates, which is not surprising, given [[MakeMeWannaShout his powerset]]. It's an entirely invented language that was carefully made to ''not'' have any signs in common with ASL. Actor Anson Mount himself is to credit for most of it.

* SequelHook: The final scene of the season finale gives us flashbacks with [[spoiler:some offhand mentions of preparations for an upcoming threat that Black Bolt's parents feared. In the present, it turns out that Black Bolt knows what it is, but he doesn't tell Maximus what he knows.]] Relatedly or not, one of the final scenes is that as [[spoiler:Attilan is collapsing, one wall of ancient Inhuman writing lights up with electric blue lighting. Note that at the time, Maximus is still in Attilan, likely setting up for him working with/against whoever is coming]]. Trailers for upcoming ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episodes make [[spoiler:the return of the Kree]] a likely candidate.

''Inhumans'' is a 2017 television series based on the Creator/MarvelComics [[ComicBook/TheInhumans characters of the same name]], set within the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. It debuted in September 2017,[[note]]September 1 for a two-week run in IMAX, and September 26 for the show's run on ABC[[/note]] was produced by Creator/{{ABC}} Studios in conjunction with Creator/{{IMAX}}, who screened the first two episodes in theaters ahead of its official debut on television. The show will run for eight episodes instead of a full season, most likely for the purpose of having a greater budget dedicated to visual effects. IMAX will pick up the tab on the costs for the first two episodes, while ABC will fund the remaining six.

* AdaptationalWimp: Black Bolt's had a severe {{Nerf}}ing compared to the comics version. The power of his voice, while still impressive and making him one of the strongest characters in the cast, is no more than, say, ''Series/{{Arrow}}'''s ComicBook/BlackCanary-related MakeMeWannaShout characters at the maximum. That's ''impressive,'' but comic Black Bolt's voice is ''literally'' comparable to a nuke. His other powers are also never seen.[[note]]In the comics, he wears an antenna-like device that lets him channel his power inwards, making him a FlyingBrick capable of going one-on-one with the likes of Thanos, as well as enabling him to use energy blasts and force fields. A common message board topic is "Who would win, Black Bolt or ComicBook/Superman?"[[/note]]

* MythologyGag: While trying to find the origin of Black Bolt's powers, Sammy asks if he [[Comicbook/SpiderMan got bitten by a radioactive bug]].

* OhCrap: Black Bolt merely ''opening his mouth'' can elicit this reaction from everyone in the room.
** It gets better when you see the context in the actual episode. We'd just seen [[spoiler:teen Black Bolt accidentally disintegrate his parents and crush the wall behind them with one word as he discovers his uncontrollable sonic powers, which Maximus in the present is taunting adult Black Bolt about. And, in the present, where are they? In the very room young Black Bolt was kept in shortly ''after'' destroying his parents. In other words, he's been imprisoned in the only logical place: a protected room where you learn to control dangerous powers without endangering the outside. Maximus has Black Bolt captive and has marked the rest of his family for death, taunting him about his wife Medusa "writhing on the floor," and dares him to kill him like he did their parents... [[DidntThinkThisThrough while inside the one place where Black Bolt can do so without worrying about collateral damage]]. You ''bet'' when Maximus pushes him far enough and he opens his mouth to do what we'd just seen in the flashback, Maximus and his {{Mooks}} are not looking so confident!]]

* AscendedFridgeHorror: King Black Bolt's power is, of course, [[spoiler: an incredibly destructive sonic scream released when he speaks]]. If this show isn't your introduction to the character, then when you first learned that, you probably figured it wasn't pretty when he first got it. You'd be ''absolutely right.'' [[spoiler: One word ''completely obliterates'' his parents. We then pan around to the wall behind the place where they'd been standing: it's crushed like the Hulk had punched it, and painted with the dust his parents were reduced to, the grains ''blasted into it.'']] Holy crap.
* BigBad: Maximus.
* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler: Even with her hair shaved off, Medusa is still a skilled enough fighter to fight Auran evenly.]]

* CruelMercy: Maximus' ultimate fate. [[spoiler: Black Bolt doesn't kill him, but instead seals him within a bunker with enough food to last the rest of his life... which will be a long time trapped entirely alone, on the now abandoned moon.]]
* CursedWithAwesome: Black Bolt's power is his voice, which can level a city with a whisper, making him an incredible force. Yet it also means he can't make a single sound for fear of hurting those around him, which is proven in a flashback showing how [[spoiler: with just one word he ''vaporized his own parents''.]]
* DecoyProtagonist: The series begins with [[spoiler: a newly turned Earth-born Inhuman being hunted down and contacted by Triton, who promises to take her to Attilan. The setup and the fact that she is played by recognizable actress leads the audience to believe she will be the AudienceSurrogate character, but she is unceremoniously killed moments later.]]

* DramaticIrony: One of the central conflicts is between those who wish to remain in hiding and away from humans and those who wish to travel to Earth and reveal their existence...completely unaware that Inhumans have been common knowledge for about two years by this point and are appearing randomly all over the world. They also seem unaware of Inhumans living on Earth even before then.

* HeWhoMustNotBeHeard: Since Black Bolt has a destructive voice, he can't speak at any time. A mere grunt of pain when a cop [[spoiler: tazes him]] is enough to send one of their cars flying. He communicates with sign language because of this.
* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler: Happens between Karnak and Jem (a regular human) in "Make Way for... Medusa", and later for Crystal and Dave (another human) in "The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon".]]

* MadeOfIron: Black Bolt seems to be, seeing as [[spoiler: a truncheon to the back barely does more than surprise him, a taser elicits little more than a grunt, and he's seemingly no worse for wear after three cops beat him into submission.]]

** It gets better when you see the context in the actual episode. We'd just seen [[spoiler: teen Black Bolt accidentally disintegrate his parents and crush the wall behind them with one word as he discovers his uncontrollable sonic powers, which Maximus in the present is taunting adult Black Bolt about. And, in the present, where are they? In the very room young Black Bolt was kept in shortly ''after'' destroying his parents. In other words, he's been imprisoned in the only logical place: a protected room where you learn to control dangerous powers without endangering the outside. Maximus has Black Bolt captive and has marked the rest of his family for death, taunting him about his wife Medusa "writhing on the floor," and dares him to kill him like he did their parents... [[DidntThinkThisThrough while inside the one place where Black Bolt can do so without worrying about collateral damage]]. You ''bet'' when Maximus pushes him far enough and he opens his mouth to do what we'd just seen in the flashback, Maximus and his {{Mooks}} are not looking so confident!]]

* ProphecyTwist: As expected, Maximus has [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] by the end and become the full-on BigBad. When he asks the boy he'd saved from the mines at the beginning to use his prophetic abilities to look at his future, he says he sees Maximus becoming the undisputed king of Attilan. [[spoiler: At the time, he's blackmailing the royal family by causing a disruption to the city's dome that will eventually destroy the city. In the end, even ''he'' can't stop it. His final fate is to be left in the one safe place in Attilan, all alone after it has been evacuated, the city above him finally collapsing, and the dome gone so that if he ''could'' escape he would promptly die, unprotected and with no air on the moon. Indeed, no one is around to challenge him for 'rule' of a pile of rubble, or the one room beneath it that he'll be spending the rest of his life in.]]

* SequelHook: The final scene of the season finale gives us flashbacks with [[spoiler: some offhand mentions of preparations for an upcoming threat that Black Bolt's parents feared. In the present, it turns out that Black Bolt knows what it is, but he doesn't tell Maximus what he knows.]] Relatedly or not, one of the final scenes is that as [[spoiler: Attilan is collapsing, one wall of ancient Inhuman writing lights up with electric blue lighting. Note that at the time, Maximus is still in Attilan, likely setting up for him working with/against whoever is coming]]. Trailers for upcoming ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episodes make [[spoiler: the return of the Kree]] a likely candidate.

* WhamShot: The flashback showing that Black Bolt [[spoiler: ''killed his own parents'' when he simply asked "why?" with his voice, vaporizing them with its power.]]

Curiously, the show has not officially replaced the planned movie, although that may have changed as a result of Marvel's plans shifting. IMAX have also expressed interest in doing more deals with ABC should the project be successful.

The series focuses on ComicBook/BlackBolt and the Inhuman royal family, rather than the "urban" Inhuman characters featured on its sister show ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', starring Creator/AnsonMount as Blackagar "Black Bolt" Boltagon, king of the Inhumans, Creator/SerindaSwan as ComicBook/{{Medusa}}, queen of the Inhumans and Black Bolt's wife, Creator/KenLeung as ComicBook/Karnak; [[Film/{{Ink}} Eme Ikwuakor]] as Gorgon, Black Bolt's cousin and leader of the Attilan military; [[Series/DanceAcademy Isabelle Cornish]] as Crystal, Medusa's sister; [[WebVideo/StreetFighterAssassinsFist Mike Moh]] as Triton, another of Black Bolt's cousins; [[Film/SoulSurfer Sonya Balmores]] as Auran, head of the Royal Guards of Attilan; and Creator/IwanRheon as Maximus the Mad, the villainous brother of Black Bolt. Additionally, [[Series/{{Californication}} Ellen Woglom]] stars as [[CanonForeigner Louise]], a human scientist who meets the Royals.

The series focuses on ComicBook/BlackBolt and the Inhuman royal family, rather than the "urban" Inhuman characters featured on its sister show ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', starring Creator/AnsonMount as Blackagar "Black Bolt" Boltagon, king of the Inhumans, Creator/SerindaSwan as ComicBook/{{Medusa}}, queen of the Inhumans and Black Bolt's wife, Creator/KenLeung as Karnak; [[Film/{{Ink}} Eme Ikwuakor]] as Gorgon, Black Bolt's cousin and leader of the Attilan military; [[Series/DanceAcademy Isabelle Cornish]] as Crystal, Medusa's sister; [[WebVideo/StreetFighterAssassinsFist Mike Moh]] as Triton, another of Black Bolt's cousins; [[Film/SoulSurfer Sonya Balmores]] as Auran, head of the Royal Guards of Attilan; and Creator/IwanRheon as Maximus the Mad, the villainous brother of Black Bolt. Additionally, [[Series/{{Californication}} Ellen Woglom]] stars as [[CanonForeigner Louise]], a human scientist who meets the Royals.

* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler: Happens between Karnak and Jem (a regular human) in "Make Way for... Medusa", and later for Crystal and Dave(another human) in "The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon".]]

* IWantMyJetPack: Louise's motivation. She actually carries her father's ashes in a necklace shaped like an Apollo rocket.
-->He spent his entire life wanting to go to the Moon, and NASA, they didn't know if they were gonna pick pilots or scientists. But guess what? They picked ''pilots.'' And my father, the ''scientist,'' he never got to go.

* SequelHook: The final part gives us flashbacks with [[spoiler: some offhand mentions of preparations for an upcoming threat that Black Bolt's parents feared. In the present, it turns out that Black Bolt knows what it is, but he doesn't tell Maximus what he knows.]] Relatedly or not, one of the final scenes is that as [[spoiler: Attilan is collapsing, one wall of ancient Inhuman writing lights up with electric blue lighting. Note that at the time, Maximus is still in Attilan, likely setting up for him working with/against whoever is coming]]. Trailers for upcoming ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episodes make [[spoiler: the return of the Kree]] a likely candidate.

* SequelHook: The final part gives us flashbacks with [[spoiler: some offhand mentions of preparations for an upcoming threat that Black Bolt's parents feared. In the present, it turns out that Black Bolt knows what it is, but he doesn't tell Maximus what he knows.]] Relatedly or not, one of the final scenes is that as [[spoiler: Attilan is collapsing, one wall of ancient Inhuman writing lights up with electric blue lighting. Note that at the time, Maximus is still in Attilan, likely setting up for him working with/against whover is coming]]. Trailers for upcoming ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episodes make [[spoiler: the return of the Kree]] a likely candidate.

* AdaptationDistillation: In the comics, Atillan was initially located in the North Atlantic Ocean at the time of their discovery, until they eventually moved into several places such as the Andes, the Himalayas and eventually the moon. Here, the Inhumans were always based in the moon. In addition, the Alpha Primitives are not their ServantRace, since they were previously established as minions to [[GreaterScopeVillain Alveus]] in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. Inhumans with lesser abilities (or none whatsoever) fill their role instead.

* RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear: Medusa often translates Black Bolt's sign language even when she's alone with him and has no reason to repeat back what he just said.

* SignLanguage: How Black Bolt communicates, which is not surprising, given [[MakeMeWannaShout his powerset]].

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Nobody cares about the Moon's gravity being six times less than Earth's. So going instantly from the Moon to Earth would result in one collapsing by sudden weight increase at best.

** Maximus's power was changed to make him less of a CardCarryingVillain. In the comics, he had mind control powers, but here he explicitly has ''no'' powers and is therefore at the bottom of the FantasticCasteSystem. In turn, this means that Karnak's abilities must necessarily also be an Inhuman power here; in the comics he never underwent Terrigenesis and was merely [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower very well trained]].

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Nobody cares about Moon's gravity being six times less than Earth's. So going instantly from the Moon to Earth would result in one collapsing by sudden weight increase at best.

* WeaksauceWeakness: [[spoiler:Medusa's hair ability can be neutralized by an electric razor. This is a marked contrast from the comics, where her hair can't be cut unless she willingly allows it.]]

* CanonForeigner: Louise is not from the comics and is an original character for this show.

** The comic version of Auran has UnusualEars and an odd form of super-hearing[[note]]She can listen for specific words and pinpoint exactly where they were said.[[/note]] The show gives her a vague sound-based tracking ability, which makes her a MacGuffinGirl for both Black Bolt and Maximus as each searches for the scattered royal family. She also gets a HealingFactor so she can be [[GoodThingYouCanHeal bashed up in battles]] - ''repeatedly.''

* FiveManBand: a textbook case, almost:
** TheLeader: Black Bolt (technically)
** TheLancer: Medusa (but well into Co-Leader territory)
** TheBigGuy: Gorgon
** TheSmartGuy: Karnak
** TheChick: Crystal

* TooDumbToLive: Black Bolt's parents refuse to place their son in isolation for everyone's safety, and insist he'll learn to control his power. Not long after, Black Bolt accidentally kills them during an argument.

** Maximus' power was changed to make him less of a CardCarryingVillain. In the comics, he had mind control powers, but here he explicitly has ''no'' powers and is therefore at the bottom of the FantasticCasteSystem. In turn, this means that Karnak's abilities must necessarily also be an Inhuman power here; in the comics he never underwent Terrigenesis and was merely [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower very well trained]].