When it comes to Marvel and its superpowered roster of superheroes, it’s common for the comics publisher to feature unique origin stories - such as that of Moon Knight, the avatar of Khonshu, and even the Inhumans that received their powers through the mysterious Terrigen Mist. And while Moon Knight received his powers from an ancient deity, the Inhumans have had quite the sci-fi origin story. Not to mention, their royalty and unique nature mean some Inhumans are just a cut different from the rest.
Interestingly, some Inhumans might appear to have “ordinary” abilities, whereas others are just simply too powerful to be handled. And seeing how Marvel teams like the Inhumans, the X-Men, and the Avengers are about to have another scuffle in the comics soon, it may help to see just which Inhumans are the more powerful among the rest.
Updated on October 30, 2022, by Rhenn Taguiam: Although the Inhumans already made an appearance throughout Agents of SHIELD and explored the lives of the Inhuman Royal Family in Marvel’s Inhumans, it’s in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that puts the Inhumans front and center in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - at least for a short time. The film reveals the existence of not just the Multiverse, but specifically Earth-838 where Black Bolt is a member of the Illuminati (its version of the Avengers), but he is also teammates with Professor X of the X-Men. Not only does this confirm the existence of Mutants, but also the Inhumans in the larger MCU space. And for fans who want to learn more about the Inhumans in the comics, perhaps starting with its most powerful members could help - including empaths, reality warpers, and even an ancient and long-forgotten Inhuman.
15 Lockjaw
One couldn’t expect that a giant dog with an antenna on his head would become an Inhuman, but this is exactly what Lockjaw was after Inhuman experimentation on canines. Serving as the loyal pet of the Royal Family, Lockjaw is ever-so-loyal, especially to Black Bolt and his closest confidants.
However, one shouldn’t underestimate Lockjaw simply because of his appearance. Lockjaw possesses tremendous powers of teleportation, allowing himself and up to a ton of additional mass to get transported not just through space but even through dimensions. While Lockjaw couldn’t speak, it’s assumed that Lockjaw has the innate ability to even “sense” spatial distances, and an incredible ability to smell and track scents across dimensions.
14 Medusa
A member of the Attilan Royal Family by birth, Medusa had herself exposed to Terrigen Mist at an early age, allowing her to be able to manipulate her hair like an appendage similar to her limbs. Serving as Black Bolt’s second cousin, their close relations developed into a love that blossomed into a partnership that rivaled other couples in the comics universe.
While Medusa isn’t as powerful on her own, her prowess lies in her trichokinesis, the ability to control her hair. When she concentrates, Medusa can control her hair to do just about anything imaginable. The tips of her hair can move faster than sound, allowing her to strike at foes like a whip or even flip it like a fan. Not only that, but she can lift objects much larger than the courtesy of her hair, which extends to delicate manipulations - as though she can control every limb of her hair.
13 Inferno
Although a newly-activated Inhuman after Attilan fell into the Hudson River, Dante Pertuz adopted the moniker Inferno after discovering his abilities. And despite his youth, Dante quickly grew used to using his power, to the point of being one of the most potent pyrokinetic individuals in the Marvel universe.
What’s perhaps interesting is that Inferno isn’t generating “fire” per se, but rather generating plasmoid flames from thin air. These geothermal abilities can extend to great lengths, such as engulfing himself in a mix of pyroclastic material or even creating a volcano out of the ground. Perhaps more impressive is his ability to generate a new arm out of pyroclastic material after having his original one chopped off.
12 Gorgon
When Gorgon was exposed to the Terrigen Mist, he received a physical improvement in the form of hooves that allowed him to generate kinetic shockwaves. Despite the simple nature of this ability, it’s how he’s able to use them that makes him such a formidable force against most threats. Thanks to his hooves, Gorgon was granted not just superhuman strength but a tremendous amount of stamina, speed, agility, and reflexes.
Not only that but stomping his hooves allow him to create seismic shocks that amplify his kicks - generating enough force that can reach 7.5 magnitudes on the Richter Scale. When used near a fault line, these energies can reach 9.5. A truly-angry Gorgon can summon an earthquake with enough force to level cities.
11 Ulysses Cain
Being the focal point of the Civil War 2 storyline, Ulysses Cain is a young Inhuman born with the peculiar ability to “forecast” the future. He does this by unconsciously absorbing energies and data permeated by everything around him and, through a mental “algorithm,” generates dreams and visions of what may happen in the future.
While this ability strained him at first due to lack of control, the training allowed Ulysses to eventually “pause” these visions and even analyze his dreams more carefully, allowing him to study his visions further. This ability extended to being able to bring others into his projections as well. When used in combat, Ulysses may be able to predict what others would do. And considering the ethical considerations of a “probability” being extended to someone having a “tendency” to commit crimes, Ulysses’s abilities are easily one of the most coveted in the universe.
10 Maximus
The second son to the Attilan Royal Family, Maximus as a child in her mother’s womb was genetically altered to absorb a particular amount of Terrigen Mist to bestow advanced cognitive functions. As a result, Maximus grew not just to have advanced intelligence, but also mental control unlike others have seen. This propensity towards cold logic developed a sense of superiority over Maximus, making him one of the most villainous Inhumans of all time.
However, one can’t blame Maximus for his tendencies to become a villain, considering the great magnitude of his mental powers. At its core, Maximus possesses the ability to “override” the thought processes of other brains, giving him some extent of mind control that ranges from mind reading, memory alteration, illusions, and even personality alteration. Simply leaving Maximus alone leaves him at his deadliest, as this allows him to tinker with minds as he sees fit.
9 Karnak
The second son of an Inhuman philosopher-priest, Karnak was raised to have a quieter demeanor and a more serious personality, something that reflects in his abilities. After his exposure to Terrigen Mist, Karnak developed the peculiar ability to condition his mind and body to peak efficiency, allowing him to control his body with magnificent precision - be it his heartbeat and breathing, to minute things such as healing rate, pain reaction, and other autonomous functions.
However, Karnak at his deadliest was when he started studying his own body, allowing him to extend this to others - being able to identify stress points and weaknesses in everything around him. This applies not just to physical things but also psychological as well, allowing him to shatter or split objects seemingly invulnerable or much stronger than him.
8 Crystal
Perhaps one of the more famous Inhumans, Crystal is the younger sister of Medusa and was granted certain mental powers thanks to her exposure to the Terrigen Mist. However, Crystal’s kind-hearted nature shouldn’t be used against her. After all, this Inhuman has the peculiar abilities of an Elementalist, allowing her to manipulate all four elements to her wishes.
Not only does this allow her to manipulate air, fire, earth, and water in a basic sense. Rather, she can do wildly different things with them, especially with her advanced training. Aerokinesis not just allows her to fly but also creates force fields and manipulates the atmosphere. Meanwhile, her control over fire allows her to outright manipulate atoms by triggering chemical reactions. Her psionic connection to the elements gives her peculiar awareness and immunity towards and against them as well.
7 Lash
Perhaps the deadliest among the Inhumans, Lash was born in the hidden city of Oriolan, chosen to be exposed to the Terrigen Mist as a gift and not a birthright. This granted him the ability of energy conversion and teleportation, allowing him to be one of the deadliest Inhumans ever encountered in the universe. His teleportation abilities alone allow him to travel to virtually any destination he wished, making it a deadly asset in combat.
However, perhaps deadlier is his ability to convert and control energy. Not only can he absorb almost all kinds of energies, but he can also emit energy he’s absorbed from his palms with such strength that he’s capable of outright disintegrating others. In fact, such was his control over energy that Lash can manipulate it in other forms.
6 Black Bolt
The King of the Inhumans, silent Black Bolt isn’t to be underestimated despite his quiet demeanor. His kingly presence is respected not just by his own kind but Earth alike, especially considering the deadly nature of his abilities. As fans know, Black Bolt is silent because his speech alone can level entire cities. He can harness electrons to such a level that any slight attempt to use his vocal cords can cause a “quasi-sonic scream,” and using it at full strength can essentially destroy planet-sized objects.
Not only that, but the antenna he wears on his head allows Black Bolt to channel his powers, letting him bolster his speed and strength by focusing his powers on it. Moreover, Black Bolt can create concussive blasts instead of simply letting out his screams, allowing him to create attacks such as the deadly Master Blow. Lastly, his electron manipulation is so extreme that focusing his voice as a field around him can create an impenetrable force field.
5 Ahura
Although the son of Black Bolt and Medusa, Ahura and his nature as an Inhuman isn’t limited to inheriting Black Bolt’s hypersonic screams. Instead, Ahura has access to a wide range of abilities, including flight, energy beams, and force field generation. While unable to replicate his father’s hypersonic screams, Ahura has demonstrated immunity to Black Bolt’s abilities. After his Terrigenesis, Ahura was gifted with the psionic ability to “split” his soul, allowing him to create four (4) copies of himself that can use psychic weapons that damage physically. This extended to an ability to astral project across various locations, possess bodies psionically, and even across distances.
However, what perhaps makes Ahura extremely deadly is his former abilities. Having previously demonstrated the same madness as his uncle Maximus, Ahura had evolved abilities. Aside from telepathy and empathy, Ahura was able to “extend” these abilities to accommodate mind control and manipulate matter and energy. What’s more extreme is his Evil Eye, wherein he can immediately kill anyone he has eyes on.
4 Luna Maximoff
It’s not uncommon for Inhumans to develop relationships with non-Inhumans, as demonstrated by Luna Maximoff, the offspring of mutating Quicksilver and Inhuman Crystal. Due to her complicated origins, Quicksilver has inadvertently exposed the “ordinary” Luna to the Terrigen Mist various times until she had developed her powers. As such, Luna has an innate connection with the Terrigen Crystals, with her ability to sense them whenever they are being used on Earth. Given how Quicksilver’s father Magneto and his mutant comrades among the X-Men may soon be introduced in the MCU, Luna may be someone worth looking into.
Perhaps much more powerful are her innate abilities. At first glance, Luna has aura vision, allowing her to “see” the emotional states of others in the form of colorful auras that only she can interpret. This transformed her not just as an empath but also as capable of “altering” these emotions to her will. This extends to the mental sphere, allowing Luna to remove mental dampers on abilities and even suppress attempts at telepathy. Such is her knowledge of emotional states that she has a limited degree of precognition, able to counter attacks from Karnak who could supposedly identify the weak spots of others.
3 Reader
Only some Inhumans are located on the Moon, as some have manifested their powers on Earth and have stayed in certain locations. These include Reader, a freelancer who gained prominence as a Nuhuman “retriever” who would bring Nuhumans to various facilities for a fee. This makes him more or less a mercenary like Deadpool. What perhaps makes Reader a rather potent foe isn’t just his combat abilities but his powers. At its core, the Reader can turn into reality anything he reads, which forces his people to gouge out his eyes to stop him from using his abilities.
Thanks to braille, Reader could exert the same abilities to their maximum. The only thing holding him back is that these abilities grow weaker with each “read” until he rests properly. He now possesses a multitude of “cards” he can read to manifest abilities, including to “see” through his dog Forey, to teleport using “away,” create an actual fortress from nothing with a “castle,” and even kill everyone around him with “death.”
2 The Unspoken
While Black Bolt is the current leader of the Inhumans, it seems he wasn’t necessarily the only Inhuman King. Way back, it appears a person only known as The Unspoken served as the previous ruler of a then-prosperous Inhuman Empire. After being defeated by a young Black Bolt, the Unspoken was laid to rest and his entire rule scrubbed out of Inhuman History. He became a bogeyman to Inhuman children, earning the name.
His modern appearances largely involve the Unspoken acquiring the Slave Engine designed to transform humans into Alpha Primates he can bend to his will. Not only that, he’s created the Xenogenic Crystals capable of “devolving” humans to make them less of a threat to the Inhumans. Perhaps the most dangerous ability of the Unspoken lie in his manipulation of Terrigenesis, being the embodiment of the Mists himself. Given enough time, the Unspoken could develop into an Omega-Level Threat. His powers allow him to imbue himself with immense physical attributes and acquire vast abilities capable of rivaling reality warpers.
1 Adam Roderick
Despite appearing rather “ordinary,” Adam Roderick after his Terrigenesis proved to be one of the most powerful Inhumans. Considered a Nuhuman, or a human turned Inhuman after exposure to the Terrigen Mist cloud, Adam Roderick was initially sought after by Magister Karnak to return to his parents. Unfortunately, he learned the hard way that Adam had no intention of returning to his parents in “the foreseeable future” now that he had become Inhuman.
While Karnak initially thought Adam had an improved immunity system, his abilities extended far more than that. In truth, Adam Roderick’s words can influence people who can hear him and his environment. This allows him to “alter” his surroundings according to his beliefs, with these powers extending not just to influencing but to outright power bestowal and manipulation. Such was his power that he “willed” into existence an “eye” that could see at the end of time and never close.