A race of superhuman beings published by
Marvel Comics.
The Inhumans
first appeared in
Fantastic Four #45
The Inhumans are a race of superhuman beings who are an offshoot of normal
human genetics. The offshoot was created thousands of years ago due to the
experimentation of the alien race known as the Kree. Years earlier, the
Kree and their mortal enemies the Skrull had created a base upon the
Moon to determine who would be the superior. Both races abandoned the
base which later became known as the Blue Area. During this time, the
cosmically powered race called the Celestials came to Earth and tinkered
with some of its inhabitants genetics creating the Eternals and their counterparts
the Deviants.
When some of the Eternals left Earth and sought to settle on the moon of
Jupiter called Titan, the Kree were alerted, because they had established sensors
there. The Kree came and subdued the Eternals and studied them. They decided
that they would attempt to use human stock to create a group of slaves for their
race. They experimented for a time and finally created a small group of
genetically superior humans. The Kree left at this point for undisclosed reasons,
but these new humans called the Inhumans were left. They settled on
a small island they called Attilan.
The Inhumans advanced more quickly than the rest of humanity and soon were
far superior in their technology. One of their scientists called Randac created
a substance that would allow for quick genetic advances. Calling the substance
Terrigen, Randac proposed to let his fellow Inhumans expose themselves to
it, in hopes of becoming more advanced. This worked well, except that many
of the Inhumans began to experience non-human mutations. It was then decided
that the Inhumans would be ruled by the most genetically advanced, and that
person would be considered king.
The Inhumans lived for many years on the Earth shunning contact with the
rest of the human race. They eventually hid behind an force field to protect themslves
from human influence and the pollution that humanity was creating. When one
of their number, the woman Medusa, lost her memory and wandered away
from Attilan, the Inhuman royal family went to look for her. She was eventually
found and the Inhumans, who had hidden their existence, became known to the
hero group the Fantastic Four.
Eventually, Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four, helped the Inhumans
move their city to the Blue Area of the moon, so that they would no longer be
exposed to human pollution. Of late, the Inhumans original masters, the Kree
have come back to make use of their earlier experiments.
The royal family of the Inhumans today consists of the following people:
- Black Bolt: The Inhuman king. Black Bolt possesses immense strength and
power and the ability to level mountains with the sound of his voice.
- Medusa: Black Bolt's bride. Medusa possesses the power to control each
strand of her hair and use it as a weapon or to grasp and entangle others.
- Crystal: Medusa's sister. Former member of both the Fantastic Four and the
Avengers, Crystal controls the four elements. She is the bride of the mutant
speedster, Quicksilver.
-Triton: Triton has a scaled fish-like form. He is the master of the underwater realm.
-Gorgon: Immensely strong, Gorgon's main power is in his huge legs that
allow him to stamp the ground, sending out shockwaves.
-Karnak: With his advanced intellect and amazing senses, Karnak is able to analzye
and find weakness in things.
-Lockjaw: The royal family's dog. Lockjaw has the ability to teleport across vast
distances. An erroneous story was presented that Lockjaw was actually a member
of the Royal Family, but that has been refuted since its introduction.
-Maximus: Black Bolt's brother. Maximus often tried to
usurp Black Bolt's throne.