Inhuman

The Inhumans are a superhuman race of super beings, of which Lockjaw is one. They have been both allies of the Fantastic Four.

Production Background

The Inhumans first appeared in Fantastic Four No. 45 (December 1965), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 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.

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.

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 and birth control, the Inhumans managed to mitigate the genetic damage and cultivated a more responsible use of Terrigen Mist. 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 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, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Maximus, 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.

See Also

• Inhuman at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia