Inhumans facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Inhumans
Artwork for the cover of Inhumans vol. 2, #1 (November 1998)  Art by Jae Lee
Species publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist)
Characteristics
Place of origin	Earth
Notable members	Inhuman Royal Family: Black Bolt Medusa Karnak the Shatterer Gorgon Triton Crystal Lockjaw Maximus the Mad The Unspoken New generation: Tonaja Alaris San Nahrees Jolen Dewoz Post-Infinity: Inferno Lash Ms. Marvel Quake Reader Synapse II
Inherent abilities	Varies
The Inhumans or Inhumans
	Cover of Inhumans vol. 1, #1 (October 1975 Marvel Comics), art by Gil Kane
Series publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	(vol. 1) Bi-monthly (vols. 2–4) Monthly
Format	(vols. 1 and 4) Ongoing series (vols. 2 and 3) Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	(vol. 1) October 1975 – August 1977 (vol. 2) November 1998 – October 1999 (vol. 3) June – October 2000 (vol. 4) June 2003 – June 2004
Number of issues	(vols. 1, 2, and 4) 12 (vol. 3) 4
Collected editions
Inhumans	ISBN: 0-7851-0753-3
Young Inhumans	ISBN: 0-7851-3382-8

The Inhumans are a superhuman race of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many people associate the name "Inhumans" with this particular team of superpowered characters.

The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965), though members Medusa and Gorgon appeared in earlier issues of that series (#36 and #44, respectively). Their home, the city of Attilan, was first mentioned years earlier, in a Tuk the Caveboy story written and drawn by Jack Kirby that appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). The city was described as the home of a race that was evolutionarily advanced when human beings were still in the Stone Age.

The Inhuman Royal Family has been adapted to numerous Marvel animated series and video games over the years.

Inhuman characters were introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in live action in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while the Inhuman Royal Family is featured in the television series Inhumans, which premiered in 2017; the latter show was critically panned and lasted only one season. Earlier, a proposed film adaptation of the Inhumans was announced in 2014 by Marvel Studios but was later removed from its slate and never came to fruition. The Inhumans did make it to the big screen in the 2022 feature film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Development

In a 1967 interview, Stan Lee discussed the creation of the Inhumans: "The first Inhuman that we brought in was Gorgon... And he was a fella who looked a little like a centaur or something. He could kick his foot very hard and he had great power. He could shatter a mountain by kicking his foot. He started out as a villain. We liked him so much, I should say Jack liked him so much, that he kept using him. We figured he has to come from somewhere. We decided, let him come from some strange land over in Europe, where there are a whole group of people like him. And well, what else could you call them except the Inhumans. Then Jack had to create a whole bunch of Inhumans and I think he did a great job. When it came to doing the leader, we decided, well, there was no need for them all to be villainous. I think we did have in mind that Black Bolt would eventually be a heroic type. And again, we always try to give a character a hangup so his hangup is he doesn’t speak."

Publication history

The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (December 1965). The Inhumans appeared as a back-up feature in Thor #146 (Nov. 1967) to #152 (May 1968) which contained their first extensive origin story. They fight the Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer #18 (September 1970). The Inhumans' first ongoing feature, the first six issues of which were written and pencilled by their co-creator Jack Kirby, appeared in Amazing Adventures #1 (Aug. 1970) to #10 (Jan. 1972). The characters received their own self-titled series in October 1975, which ran for 12 issues and ended in August 1977. All but issue #9 were written by Doug Moench, who has said he was fascinated with the shaggy God story aspect of the Inhumans. A follow-up to the series's ending appeared in Captain Marvel #53 (November 1977).

The Inhumans were largely absent from publications for much of the 1980s, but appeared in their own graphic novel in 1988, written by Ann Nocenti and illustrated by Bret Blevins. Nocenti followed up by making the Inhumans Karnak and Gorgon supporting cast members in Daredevil from issue #272 (November 1989) through #283 (August 1990).

An Inhumans limited series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee ran for 12 issues from November 1998-October 1999. The series, which used the Inhumans as a social allegory for the U.S., won an Eisner Award for Best New Series and established the Inhumans as viable comics-selling characters. A four-issue limited series by writers Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín and artist José Ladrönn was published in 2000. The fourth volume (2003-2004, 12 issues) concentrated largely on new characters within the Inhumans' society.

In 2007, the Inhumans featured in the Silent War limited series by writer David Hine, and artist Frazer Irving.

Following events in the Secret Invasion, the Inhumans appeared on one side of the War of Kings storyline, with Black Bolt being made king of the Kree, facing off against Vulcan, who is leading the Shi'ar.

The 2013 event, Infinity, led to major changes in status quo for the group, with many new Inhumans, or "NuHumans", appearing as a result of the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb. Writer Charles Soule became the lead writer of the Inhuman franchise, starting with the Inhuman series, which ran for 14 issues from April 2014–June 2015. The NuHuman Kamala Khan also becomes the lead of her own title, Ms. Marvel vol. 3. Following the Secret Wars event, the franchise expanded to two ongoing titles, Uncanny Inhumans, which ran for 20 issues from 2015–2017, and All-New Inhumans, which ran for 11 issues. There have been two spin-off titles with Karnak running in 2015 for six issues penned by Warren Ellis and drawn by Gerardo Zaffino and Roland Boschi and Black Bolt running for 12 issues from 2017-2018 penned by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Christian Ward. In 2017, Marvel announced two series involving the Inhuman royal family, Royals written by Al Ewing drawn by Kevin Libranda that was cancelled after 10 issues, and a five issue miniseries titled Inhumans: Once & Future Kings written by Christopher Priest and drawn by Phil Noto that explored the royal family's origins.

In July 2018, Marvel launched a new five-issue miniseries titled Death of the Inhumans written by Donny Cates and drawn by Ariel Olivetti.

Fictional species biography

At the beginning of the Kree-Skrull War, millions of years ago in Earth time, the alien Kree established a station on the planet Uranus, a strategic position between the Kree and Skrull empires. Through their work at this station, they discovered that sentient life on nearby Earth had genetic potential invested in it by the alien Celestials. Intrigued, the Kree began to experiment on Earth's then-primitive race Homo sapiens to produce the genetically advanced Inhuman race. Their goal was apparently twofold—to investigate possible ways of circumventing their own evolutionary stagnation, and to create a powerful mutant race of soldiers for use against the Skrulls. Although their experiments were successful in creating a strain of humanity with extraordinary abilities, the Kree abandoned their experiment because a genetic prophecy had predicted that the experiments would eventually lead to an anomaly who would destroy the Kree Supreme Intelligence.

Born approximately 50,000 BC, Tuk the Caveboy was the first offspring of the Inhumans.

The Inhumans went on to form a society of their own, which thrived in seclusion from the rest of humanity and developed advanced technology. Experiments with the mutagenic Terrigen Mist (a process known as Terrigenesis) gave them various powers, but caused lasting genetic damage and deformities, which led to a long-term selective breeding program in an attempt to mitigate the effects of these mutations. The Terrigen Mist is a natural mutagen, arising as a vapor from the Terrigen Crystals, which are able to alter Inhuman biology. The Mists were discovered by the Inhuman geneticist Randac approximately 25,000 years ago. He immersed himself in the Mists and gained mental powers comparable to the Eternals. After centuries of eugenics, the Inhumans managed to mitigate the genetic damage and cultivated a more responsible use of the Terrigen Mists. The practice they developed was to let only genetically perfect specimens undergo the random mutations provoked by the Mists. Their theory was that genetic screening could avoid the risk of hideous and animal mutations in an individual. However, there are examples throughout the Inhumans' canon where an exposed Inhuman became a devolved, sometimes mindless, evolutionarily inferior throw-back. The term Alpha Primitives was coined for these unfortunate outcasts of Inhuman society, who would for centuries become the breeding stock of a slave race. Resentment at this caste system sometimes bubbles up, and the Alpha Primitives have tried to overthrow their rulers in multiple storylines, often as a result of manipulation by a third party.

Attilan's society and culture are predicated on a conformist belief system that permits individuality as it applies to genetic development and physical and mental ability, but demands rigid conformity in that each member of society is assigned a place within that society according to those abilities following exposure to the Terrigen Mist. Once assigned, no Inhuman, no matter how great or powerful, can change his or her place within this rigid caste system. However, as an exception, a member of the Royal Family, Crystal, married outside the Inhuman race to the mutant Quicksilver.

The Inhumans are led by their king, Black Bolt, and his Royal Family, consisting of Medusa, Karnak the Shatterer, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Maximus the Mad, and the canine Lockjaw. Both Crystal and Medusa have been members of the Fantastic Four; Crystal has been a member of the Avengers as well.

Black Bolt has guided the Inhumans through some of the most turbulent times in their history, including several attempts by Maximus to usurp the throne, revolts by the worker class (with their eventual emancipation), attacks by human renegades, the kidnapping of Medusa, the destruction and rebuilding of Attilan, and the revelation of the Inhumans' existence to humanity.

His role as king of the Inhumans has been tumultuous. The first major crisis occurred when he and Medusa conceived a child. Medusa bore the child in defiance of the Genetic Council, who felt that Black Bolt's bloodline was too dangerous to pass on. The Council nonetheless took the child to examine and forbade parental contact. Medusa escaped to Earth with members of the royal family only to be harassed by Maximus. Black Bolt was torn between his love of family and his duty to respect the Genetic Council, and it was only when the Council was revealed to be using his son in a plot against him that he finally turned against the Council. With that, he gave up the crown as king of the Inhumans. For a while, they lived away from Attilan, but returned in times of need.

The once-secret existence of the race has come to light among the general public as the Inhumans interact more often with many of Earth's superheroes—including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men—whom they have aided against threats such as Doctor Doom, Ultron 7, Magneto, and Apocalypse. However, no one came to the Inhumans' aid when an army of Portuguese mercenaries attacked Attilan, which was now located on risen Atlantean ruins. This was actually a coup-d'etat orchestrated by Black Bolt's brother Maximus the Mad.

Inhuman society changed radically when Ronan the Accuser sought to use the Inhumans as an army to disrupt the Shi'ar control of the Kree after their defeat in the Kree-Shi'ar War. Appearing over the city of Attilan, Ronan seized control in a surprise attack and forced the Inhumans and their king, Black Bolt, to obey, or he would destroy their only home and everyone in it. He also exiled Maximus and the Alpha Primitives to the Negative Zone. During their time in forced servitude, Ronan revealed that the Inhumans had always been intended as weapons in service to the Kree. To this end, much of the genetic attributes that were encoded in them during the original experiments were meant to give them the abilities and appearances of various alien races, the idea being that these Inhuman slaves could be used to infiltrate alien worlds and races to conduct espionage or assassinations to weaken potential conquests. Ronan used the Inhumans to launch attacks on ships and bases, disrupt a treaty between the Shi'ar and Spartax, and manipulate Black Bolt to assassinate Empress Lilandra.

Eventually, Black Bolt sought to free his people by challenging Ronan to a personal battle. If Ronan won, the Inhumans would continue to serve him. If the king won, the Inhumans would go free. After a terrible battle, Black Bolt won and Ronan, demonstrating that the Kree still had honor, kept his word and left the Inhumans. All was not over, as the Inhumans were not willing to just follow Black Bolt back to Earth. Pressure had been building in the closed society of Attilan since open contact with the outside world had been made. During their enslavement by Ronan, the Inhumans had wished for their freedom, but had developed a sense of pride in their power and a belief in their own destiny. They no longer believed that Black Bolt or the Royal Family was fit to lead them in the new life they wanted, and they exiled the Royal Family from Attilan. The Royal Family returned to Earth to find their destiny. After suffering bigotry while living in the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four and turning down political asylum from Latveria by Dr. Doom, the royal family returned to Attilan, which was located on the Blue Area of the Moon. The Inhumans attempted to foster better relations with Earth by sending students to the University of Wisconsin.

Powers and abilities

Even without using the Terrigen Mist, the Kree modifications, combined with centuries of selective breeding, have given all Inhumans certain advantages. Their average lifespan is 150 years. An Inhuman in good physical condition possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, reaction time, speed, and endurance greater than the finest of human athletes. Karnak and other normal Inhumans who are in excellent physical shape can lift one ton and are physically slightly superior to the peak of normal human physical achievement. Exposure to the Terrigen Mist can both enhance and in some cases reduce these physical capabilities. Most Inhumans are used to living in a pollution-free, germ-free environment and have difficulty tolerating Earth's current level of air and water pollution for any length of time.

Known Inhumans

Alpha Primitives

The Alpha Primitives are a slave race created by the Inhumans, first appearing in Fantastic Four #47 (February 1966). Because of the Inhumans' low population, they created a labor force of hominids bred to be strong, but of limited intelligence. They were also rendered unable to breed, being produced only by cloning. They were used by Maximus the Mad in several schemes, resulting in their being freed from servitude by Black Bolt; they would no longer be cloned and those already made would be allowed to live out their lives in a preserve under the city proper. After some time though it was understood that the Alpha Primitives could not live on their own, and the previous arrangement was reversed.

The former king of the Inhumans called the Unspoken revealed that the Alpha Primitives are actually humans who have been exposed to gas created from Xerogen Crystals, a substance created by the Kree as a weapon for the Inhumans to use against their human enemies.

Bird People

The Bird-People are a genetic offshoot of the Inhumans with bird wings, and in some cases, bat wings.

Super-Inhumans

The Kree eventually designed a new race of Inhumans that differs greatly from the original called Super-Inhumans. They are believed to be engineered from birth with almost of all of their fellows' Inhuman abilities and none of their problematic humanity. They cannot be swayed or tricked or bought for as they want nothing but their enemies' hearts to stop beating. The only known member of this new race is Vox and the reason is that the Super-Inhuman race is actually a ruse perpetuated by the Kree and Vox is not actually a person; instead, it is a program designed by the Kree which is then imprinted on selected Inhumans that transforms them genetically into a killing machine. When Vox is defeated or killed, another selected Inhuman would be activated and transformed into Vox.

See also

In Spanish: Inhumanos (cómic) para niños