Unspoken (Marvel)
The Unspoken is a supervillain that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
The Unspoken was a member of the Inhumans of Attilan where he was part of the Royal Family who became King of his people. Due to the circumstances of his rule, his true name had been forever stricken from records. This period in their history was known as the Forgotten Reign where Attilan had thrived under the reign of the Unspoken who was respected by the Inhumans and even the Alpha Primitives. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27) He came to power after the death of Agon after sensing an opportunity to advance and began to rule as king. The King was said to had taken the position to ensure that the young Black Bolt would ascend to the throne in the future. However, in reality, it was said that he sought to ensure his own powerbase remained untouched. He commanded the Alpha Primitives to build a monument to him but an attempt by them on his life was thwarted by the young Black Bolt and Maximus. Though thankful to them, the King then began to rewrite the events stating he himself had slain his attackers and began to worry about possible threats to his throne. The King was said to had engineered events for Black Bolt to fall and had plans to marry Lady Medusa. (Inhumans: Once and Future Kings v1 #1) In this era, he concluded that the Slave Engine beneath Attilan was a power too great for a single individual and thus needed to be removed. This act drew the attention of his cousins in the Royal Family which saw the recently transformed by Terrigenesis Prince Black Bolt and Lady Medusa confront the Palace Guard. Black Bolt believed that the Slave Engine was a holy relic of their people and part of their birthright that needed to be shared with all Inhumans which meant its removal was a serious act. In addition, they felt that the Engine was essential in protecting the Inhumans from the much more numerous humans around Earth. After defeating the Palace Guard, they made the Challenge of Royal Succession leading to the Unspoken battling them for the throne. Initially, he managed to overpower the other members of the Royal Family and fought Prince Black Bolt himself where he seemed assured of his victory. However, Black Bolt prevailed and thus deposed the Inhuman King from his throne whereupon he was taken to the wastelands outside Attilan. In recognition of his reign, the Royal Family afforded the former King the last opportunity to redeem himself by revealing the location of the Slave Engine. However, he refused and stated that he would rather be curse for all history then reveal its location. Thus, it was decided to banish the deposed king where his name would be stricken from all records thus leading to him becoming known as the Unspoken. His name was last spoken by newly christened King Black Bolt with the power of his voice throwing the Unspoken deep into the cold wastelands of Attilan where he was expected to die. Unknown to the Royal Family, the next morning a group of Alpha Primitives arrived and found the fallen monarch where they took him to safety. In the aftermath, the name of the Unspoken was stricken from records such as the Proscribed Volume of the Royal History of the Inhumans. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27)
By the modern age, he would come to believe his actions in hiding the Slave Engine and the Xerogen Mist crystals were wrong on his part. Thus, he sought to return them which would lead to his acceptance by the Inhumans. To accomplish this feat, he had his Alpha Primitives cultivate the Xerogen Crystals and bringing them to Attilan. This he had done in the mountains of the Tibet Autonomous Region where he remained hidden until a group of humans stumbled into the caverns of the crystals. Despite his actions, the Unspoken was too late as he would witness Attilan journeying the star under the power of Black Bolt's voice. (Mighty Avengers v1 #28) he would later head deeper into the People's Republic China with his Alpha Primitives where his presence was detected by the USAgent who registered his Terrigen particles thus leading to the conclusion that he was an Inhuman. It was Quicksilver who identified the Unspoken and cautioned his comrades about the power of the fallen monarch. This saw the Unspoken being confronted by the Chinese superhero team known as the People's Defense Force where he effortlessly defeated them. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27) He continued with the Alpha Primitives in order to make the land useful to his needs so that he could bring about his salvation. (Mighty Avengers v1 #28)
During Thanos invasion of Earth, Black Bolt seemingly sacrificed himself to defeat the Mad Titan and destroyed Attilan by detonating the Terrigen Bomb that spread across Earth where it began activating the Inhuman genes in those Humans that were descended from the Inhumans. Some of these new Inhumans were conscripted by Human military tyrants and at one such site the Unspoken arrived with those newborn Inhumans he had recruited. He would have the conscripted ones killed as traitors and took the cocoons with him where he claimed that his people would be the future of the world. (Inhumanity v1 #2) He would later arrive at New Attilan in a different thinner form where he was claiming that he came in peace by offering Queen Medusa five Inhumans that emerged from the Terrigen Cloud. However, he also claimed that he would offer New Attilan a King now that Black Bolt was missing and asked Medusa's hand in marriage to rule alongside her. (Inhuman v1 #4) Medusa would refuse him and would banished him from New Attilan had he not claimed that he had seen Black Bolt. As a result, he was allowed to stay temporarily for a night though this proved to be a ruse as he used secret passages that he knew of to access a hidden cache of Terrigen. However, Queen Medusa was aware of this deception and had followed him to find this cache as New Attilan's Terrigen Crystals had been depleted by the Terrigen Bomb. Despite this plan, her guards were unprepared for the Unspoken's Inhumans that he had gifted New Attilan earlier who provided him the time to access the Terrigen which restored his power. With his power restored, the Unspoken took control of New Attilan after deposing of Queen Medusa. (Inhuman v1 #5) During this time, he kept Medusa in chains until he was opposed by the Chief Medical Regent Vinatos who was aided by the nuHumans that managed to destroy the Unspoken's Terrigen supply leaving him depowered whereupon he was swiftly overthrown before he could accomplish his plan of conquering Earth with the nuHumans as his army. Queen Medusa would imprison him in New Attilan though the nuHuman advisor Lineage decided to forge a deal with the former king by knowing the location of Terrigen to help repower him. (Inhuman v1 #6)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Due to his powers, he was referred to as the Living Terrigenesis. (Inhumans: Once and Future Kings v1 #1)
When he was King during the Forgotten Reign, he was noted to had treated the Alpha Primitives with kindness that was an act that few others had shown. Thus, he was adored by the brutish creatures and came to prefer their stoic company over that of the courtiers gossip and intrigue. Despite his benevolent nature, he did not tolerate threats to his power and used his abilities to instill fear in his enemies. Such was his power that he considered himself the great weapon of the Inhumans leading to some accusing him of arrogance. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27)
He believed that the Inhuman race were strong but disadvantaged by the fact that they were too few in number. As a result, they were too strong to be challenged yet too weak to rule. This changed with the large emergence of the nuHumans that he believed would have afforded him to turn the Earth into an Inhuman world. (Inhuman v1 #6)
Initially, the Unspoken was against the use of the Slave Engine and Xerogen Crystals as he saw the potential of abuse in them. However, this changed following his banishment and he claimed that he recognized that his earlier actions had been error. As such, he sought to reclaim his place among his fellow Inhumans by returning them but was too late to do so as Attilan left to the stars. Despite this development, he did not blame the inhabitants of Attilan but rather himself with him considering himself forever alone at that point. (Mighty Avengers v1 #28)
He held a deep and intimate knowledge of Attilan to the point that he knew of the locations of hidden passageways that accessed secret locations such as caches of Terrigen. (Inhuman v1 #5)
Powers and abilities
His power stemmed from the Terrigen Crystals used for transformation by the inhabitants of Attilan. However, unlike normal Terrigenesis that only occurred once, the Unspoken was able to go through it multiple times and even manipulate its effect. This allowed him to give himself any powers that he desired so long as there was a source of Terrigen. (Inhuman v1 #6)
The Unspoken embodied the ultimate gift of the Inhuman race as he was said to be Living Terrigenesis thus change itself. This allowed im to take a variety of forms and display powerful energy attacks from the cosmos itself against his enemies. His incalculable power was such that he was first and foremost feared by his subjects. As was the case with Inhumans, Terrigen Crystals suffused his entire form. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27) Without the crystals, his body reverted to that of an older person but exposure to Terrigen returned him to his full strength. (Inhuman v1 #5)
Excessive contact with Terrigen was capable of causing the Unspoken to grow to giant sized proportions. (Uncanny Inhumans v1 #20)
Notes
- The Unspoken was created by Dan Slott, Christos N. Gage and Khoi Pham where he made his first appearance in Mighty Avengers v1 #27.
Appearances
- Mighty Avengers v1:
- Inhumanity v1:
- Inhuman v1:
- Uncanny Inhumans v1:
- Inhumans: Once and Future Kings v1:
External Links
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