Inhumanity

• Core Identity: Inhumanity was a 2013-2014 Marvel Comics crossover event that chronicled the global fallout after Inhuman King black_bolt detonated a Terrigen Bomb, releasing the transformative Terrigen Mists across Earth and awakening latent Inhuman genes in thousands of ordinary people.
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: The event fundamentally transformed the inhumans from a reclusive, hidden society into a global superpower with a vastly expanded population, known as the NuHumans. It repositioned them as major players in world affairs, operating from their new sovereign base of New Attilan. terligenesis.
• Primary Impact: Its most significant and lasting consequences were the creation of a new generation of heroes, most notably ms_marvel_(kamala_khan), and the establishment of a deadly new conflict with mutantkind, as the Terrigen Cloud proved toxic and sterilizing to the world's mutant population, leading directly to the Death of X and IvX storylines.
• Key Incarnations: In the Earth-616 comics, Inhumanity was a singular, cataclysmic event triggered by a bomb during thanos's invasion. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (specifically the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series), the phenomenon of a widespread Terrigenesis outbreak occurred more gradually, resulting from Terrigen crystals contaminating Earth's water supply, without the involvement of the Inhuman Royal Family.

The Inhumanity event was conceived as a direct follow-up to the 2013 blockbuster crossover, Infinity. It was spearheaded by writer Matt Fraction, who was tasked with exploring the immediate aftermath of Infinity's shocking climax. The event was formally launched with a two-issue core series, Inhumanity #1 (December 2013) and #2 (January 2014), with art by Olivier Coipel and Leinil Francis Yu, among others. However, the event's true purpose was to serve as a launchpad for a new status quo for the Inhuman corner of the Marvel Universe. This was largely handled in the ongoing series that spun out of the event, most notably Inhuman, written by Charles Soule. Soule would become the chief architect of the Inhumans' story for several years, shaping the political landscape of New Attilan and developing the newly created “NuHuman” characters. This “Inhuman push” was widely interpreted by fans and industry analysts as a strategic corporate decision by Marvel Entertainment. At the time, Marvel Studios (part of Disney) was planning an Inhumans film, while the film rights to the X-Men and the concept of mutants were held by a rival studio, 20th Century Fox. By elevating the Inhumans—a race of super-powered individuals who gain their abilities through a transformative event—Marvel Comics was seen as creating a potential franchise to rival, or even supplant, the mutants' prominence in the comics and provide a new source of super-powered characters for the MCU. The creation of popular new characters like Kamala Khan during this era is a direct testament to the success of this initiative.

The catalyst for Inhumanity is inextricably linked to the galactic-scale conflict detailed in the Infinity event. The two storylines function as a single, massive narrative arc.

The origin of the Inhumanity event was an act of desperate sacrifice by King Blackagar Boltagon, known as Black Bolt. For months, the illuminati—a secret cabal of Earth's most intelligent heroes including Black Bolt—had been dealing with “Incursions,” the collision of parallel Earths that threatened all of reality. While the Avengers were off-planet fighting a cosmic war against the Builders, the villain thanos saw an opportunity. Using the war as a cover, Thanos and his Black Order launched a full-scale invasion of Earth. His stated goal was to demand a tribute of the heads of all Inhumans between the ages of 16 and 22. However, his true, secret motive was to locate and kill his long-lost, illegitimate son, Thane, who was an Inhuman living secretly among humans. Thanos confronted Black Bolt in the Inhuman capital city of Attilan, then located floating above the Hudson River. Rather than submit, Black Bolt evacuated the city and met Thanos in single combat. Unleashing his full sonic power, Black Bolt seemingly killed both himself and Thanos. But as a final act of defiance and a desperate gambit, he had rigged the city's Terrigenesis chamber to detonate, creating a “Terrigen Bomb.” The resulting explosion shattered Attilan, sending its ruins crashing into the river below. More importantly, it released a massive, globe-spanning cloud of Terrigen Mist. This cloud drifted across the planet on wind currents, and any human carrying latent Inhuman DNA who came into contact with it was forcibly subjected to terligenesis. Millions were encased in strange cocoons, emerging days later with new, often frightening, superhuman abilities. The world was thrown into chaos as a new species was born overnight, and the age of “Inhumanity” began.

The MCU never adapted the Inhumanity storyline directly, nor did it feature a Terrigen Bomb. Instead, the concept of a worldwide Inhuman outbreak was a central, multi-season plotline in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though its origins and execution were vastly different. In the MCU, the Inhumans were the result of ancient genetic experiments by the kree alien race. The Kree created a device called the “Diviner” (or Obelisk) containing Terrigen crystals to activate their test subjects. For centuries, a small, isolated Inhuman society led by Jiaying (the mother of Daisy Johnson/Quake) lived in a hidden community called Afterlife, carefully controlling the process of Terrigenesis. The global outbreak began at the end of Season 2. During a battle between shield and Jiaying's forces, a case of Terrigen crystals fell into the ocean. The crystals dissolved and contaminated the marine ecosystem, eventually being processed into fish oil supplements that were distributed globally. This created a “pandemic” of Terrigenesis. Individuals around the world who consumed the tainted products and possessed the latent Inhuman gene would suddenly and unexpectedly form a stone-like cocoon and emerge with powers. Unlike the singular bomb in the comics, this was a slower, more insidious outbreak. It was treated by global authorities as a public health crisis and a security threat, leading to the formation of the Advanced Threat Containment Unit (ATCU). The outbreak was a core driver of the series' plot for several seasons, leading to the rise of Inhuman leaders like Daisy Johnson and antagonists like the ancient Inhuman, Hive. Critically, this entire storyline occurred without any involvement or mention of Black Bolt, Medusa, or the Inhuman Royal Family, who would later appear in the separate and short-lived Inhumans TV series.

The Inhumanity event was less a single, linear story and more a new status quo that rippled across the Marvel Universe. Its timeline is one of immediate crisis followed by a long period of adjustment and conflict.

1. Phase 1: The Detonation (Infinity #3-4): Black Bolt confronts Thanos in Attilan. He detonates the Terrigen Bomb, destroying the city and unleashing the Terrigen Cloud upon the world. Black Bolt is presumed dead.
2. Phase 2: Global Awakening (Inhumanity #1): The Terrigen Cloud begins to sweep across major population centers. The first NuHumans emerge from their cocoons, causing widespread panic and confusion. The Avengers and shield scramble to contain the chaos. Karnak, devastated by his king's apparent death and the destruction of their culture, seemingly commits suicide.
3. Phase 3: The Search for the King (Inhumanity #2, New Avengers): The surviving Inhuman Royal Family, led by a grieving but resolute medusa, begins searching for Black Bolt. It is revealed that Thanos's general, Ebony Maw, has manipulated Doctor Strange into locating Thanos's son, Thane. Thane is found in Greenland and is activated by the Terrigen Cloud, emerging with the power of “living death.” He confronts and defeats Thanos, encasing him in an amber construct of living death.
4. Phase 4: A New Nation Rises (Inhuman #1-2): Queen Medusa declares the ruins of Attilan in the Hudson River to be “New Attilan,” a sovereign nation and a sanctuary for all Inhumans, new and old. She makes a global address, inviting all NuHumans to seek refuge and guidance. This sets the stage for the Inhumans' new role as a world power.
5. Phase 5: The Rise of Factions (Inhuman #3-onward): As NuHumans flock to New Attilan, new threats emerge. The most prominent is Lash, an Inhuman from the hidden city of Orollan who believes only a select few are “worthy” of Terrigenesis. He begins a crusade to hunt and kill NuHumans he deems unfit. Meanwhile, the reformed Karnak re-emerges with a new, nihilistic philosophy, seeing the “flaw in all things.”

• Black Bolt's Decision: The detonation of the Terrigen Bomb is the single most important moment. It was an act of both sacrifice and immense hubris, saving Earth from Thanos in the short term but unleashing a problem that would plague the planet for years. It redefined his legacy, casting a long shadow of guilt over his reign.
• Medusa's Coronation as Queen-Regent: With Black Bolt gone, Medusa was forced to evolve from royal consort to the sole leader of her people during their greatest crisis. Her strength, diplomacy, and determination in founding New Attilan and becoming the public face of the Inhuman nation was a massive turning point for her character, establishing her as a peer of leaders like Captain America and Black Panther.
• The Birth of a New Generation: The emergence of characters like Dante Pertuz (Inferno) and, most importantly, Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) was a pivotal outcome. While Inferno became a key point-of-view character for the NuHuman experience in the Inhuman title, Kamala Khan's origin in Jersey City became a cultural phenomenon, proving that the event's core concept could create lasting, beloved characters.
• The Discovery of the Terrigen's Toxicity: A slow-burn turning point that occurred in the months after the main event. Cyclops and the x-men discovered that the Terrigen Cloud, while life-giving to Inhumans, was a lethal poison to mutants. It caused a plague called “M-Pox” and rendered mutants sterile. This horrific revelation transformed the Inhumans from a struggling new nation into an existential threat to mutantkind, setting the stage for Death of X and Inhumans vs. X-Men.

The fallout from Inhumanity permanently altered the landscape of the Marvel Universe.

• A New Global Power: The Inhumans were no longer a myth. New Attilan was a recognized (if controversial) sovereign nation operating in the heart of New York City. This led to complex diplomatic relations with the United States, the United Nations, and S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Inhuman-Mutant War: The most significant long-term consequence was the cold war that erupted between Inhumans and Mutants. The Terrigen Cloud forced the X-Men to relocate their school to Limbo and search desperately for a cure. This tension eventually exploded into a full-scale war, with heroes forced to choose sides between the two species.
• Expansion of Inhuman Lore: The event necessitated a massive expansion of Inhuman history and culture. Writers introduced new, hidden Inhuman cities (like Orollan), new philosophies, and new technologies to accommodate the thousands of new characters.
• The End of the Inhuman Era: Ultimately, the Inhuman-Mutant conflict was resolved when Medusa, in a moment of great leadership, chose to destroy the remaining Terrigen Cloud to save the mutant race, even though it meant sacrificing the future of her own people. This act effectively ended the “Inhumanity” era, and the Inhumans have since returned to a less prominent role in the Marvel Universe.

The traditional leaders of the Inhumans were shattered by the event, with each member forced into a new, unfamiliar role.

• Queen Medusa: The undisputed central figure of the era. She became the pragmatic, burdened, and powerful ruler of a nation in turmoil. Her story was one of grief, responsibility, and the heavy cost of leadership. She navigated political threats from world governments and internal threats from rogue Inhumans like Lash.
• King Black Bolt: Though absent for the initial phase of the event, his actions were the catalyst for everything. Upon his return, he was haunted by his decision and often acted in the shadows, allowing Medusa to remain the public leader while he dealt with threats more covertly.
• Crystal: As the most personable and worldly member of the Royal Family, she became their chief diplomat. She led the All-New Inhumans team on missions around the globe, acting as an ambassador and first responder to new Terrigenesis events.
• Karnak: The event broke Karnak. His faith in his king and his culture was shattered, leading him to abandon New Attilan and become the master of a philosophical monastery. He embraced a brutal, nihilistic worldview, using his ability to perceive flaws to dismantle anything—or anyone—he chose.

The “newly hatched” Inhumans represented the future of their species, each reacting differently to their transformation.

• Thane: The son of Thanos, the reason for the entire invasion. His Terrigenesis granted him two devastating abilities: his left hand brought “living death,” and his right hand could encase victims in an amber-like substance. A pacifist doctor before his change, Thane's story is a tragedy of being cursed with immense destructive power.
• Dante Pertuz (Inferno): A young man from Chicago who gained pyrokinetic abilities. Dante served as the primary audience viewpoint character in the Inhuman series. His journey was about learning to control his dangerous powers, finding a family in New Attilan, and grappling with the loss of his old life.
• Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel): The breakout star. A Pakistani-American teenager from Jersey City who idolized Captain Marvel. The Terrigen Mist gave her polymorphic (shapeshifting and stretching) abilities. Her story, told in her own solo series, was a celebrated, down-to-earth exploration of heroism, identity, and family, largely separate from the high politics of New Attilan but a direct and positive result of the Inhumanity event.
• Lash: An antagonist from a splinter-sect of Inhumans who believed Terrigenesis should be a sacred, earned rite, not a random global accident. He appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner for the NuHuman population, hunting and killing those he deemed unworthy of their powers.

• The Avengers & S.H.I.E.L.D.: Initially, their role was crisis management. Captain America, in particular, tried to act as a mediator between the newly-risen Inhuman nation and a fearful human populace. They treated New Attilan with cautious respect but also monitored them as a potential global threat.
• The X-Men: What began as concern quickly turned to hostility. As the Terrigen Cloud began killing and sterilizing mutants, the X-Men's primary goal became the cloud's destruction. This put them in direct opposition to Medusa and the Inhumans, who saw the cloud as the sacred key to their species' future.
• Thanos and the Black Order: While they were defeated early on, their invasion was the direct cause of the event. Their actions set all the pieces in motion, making them the ultimate, if indirect, antagonists of the entire era.

While Inhumanity was the banner, the story was told across several key titles that are essential to understanding its full scope and impact.

It is impossible to understand Inhumanity without reading Jonathan Hickman's Infinity. This epic story details the cosmic war with the Builders that drew the Avengers off-world and, more importantly, Thanos's brutal invasion of Earth in their absence. The core motivation of Thanos's search for Thane is revealed here, and the event climaxes in Infinity #4 with the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb and the fall of Attilan. It is the direct and immediate prequel.

The two-issue flagship miniseries by Matt Fraction served as an immediate epilogue to Infinity. It focused on the immediate, street-level chaos of the outbreak and established the core emotional state of the Inhuman leadership. Its most significant contribution was the deconstruction and re-imagining of Karnak, who, after witnessing the collapse of his entire culture, takes a dramatic new path that would define his character for years to come.

This ongoing series, written by Charles Soule, is the true heart of the Inhumanity era. It is here that the new status quo was truly built. Soule's run introduced New Attilan as a political entity, established Medusa's authority as Queen, and developed the key NuHuman characters like Inferno and the villain Lash. It explored the day-to-day challenges of building a new nation, integrating thousands of confused and scared new members, and fending off threats from a world that didn't trust them. Anyone wishing to understand this period of Inhuman history must read Soule's Inhuman and its follow-up, Uncanny Inhumans.

This issue is arguably the most famous and successful tie-in to the event. Written by G. Willow Wilson, it tells the origin of Kamala Khan. Walking home one night, she is enveloped by the strange Terrigen Cloud as it drifts through Jersey City. She enters a cocoon and emerges with powers, her life changed forever. It perfectly illustrates the ground-level, personal consequences of Black Bolt's decision and created a character who would quickly become one of Marvel's most popular modern heroes.

The Inhumanity event itself is unique to the Earth-616 continuity, but the concept of a widespread Inhuman awakening has appeared in other media, most notably the MCU.

• Marvel Cinematic Universe (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.): As detailed previously, the MCU's version of the outbreak was a central element of this TV series. The key differences are the cause (contaminated fish oil, not a bomb), the timeline (a gradual pandemic, not a single event), and the key players (S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and new characters like Daisy Johnson and Lincoln Campbell, with no Royal Family present). It framed the event as a public health crisis and a catalyst for a civil rights allegory, with powered people being hunted and feared by the government.
• The Inhumans TV Series (MCU): This critically panned 2017 series exists in a strange pocket of the MCU. It focuses exclusively on the Inhuman Royal Family (Black Bolt, Medusa, etc.) living in a hidden city on the Moon, Attilan. The plot revolves around a coup by Black Bolt's brother, Maximus, which forces the family to flee to Earth. The series completely ignores the global outbreak depicted in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and makes no mention of NuHumans or Terrigen Clouds on Earth, leading to major continuity questions that were never resolved due to the show's cancellation after one season.
• Video Game Adaptations: Several Marvel video games have incorporated elements from the Inhumanity storyline. For instance, the mobile game Marvel: Contest of Champions and the console game Marvel's Avengers feature storylines where Terrigenesis is a major plot point, creating a new population of Inhumans that the players must interact with and protect, showing the lasting influence of the comic event's core concept.

• inhumans
• black_bolt
• medusa
• terligenesis
• infinity_(event)
• ms_marvel_(kamala_khan)
• thanos
• ivx

^{1) 2) 3) 4) 5)}