Blackagar BoltagonBlack Bolt

Regal, stately, and dangerously loud, Black Bolt is the worthy king of the Inhumans royal family.

In spite of a voice that could level mountains, he uses his powers for good and always serves his people first, no matter what the cost to himself. Between trying to keep scheming brother Maximus from snagging the throne or preventing a prejudiced humanity from harming his subjects, Black Bolt is a busy Super Hero with a (mostly) great family behind him.

Born Into Royalty

Born to the long-hidden Inhuman race in their secluded community Attilan, Blackagar Boltagon is the son of two prominent Inhuman geneticists, Agon, head of the ruling Council of Genetics, and Rynda, director of the Prenatal Care Center.

While many Inhumans were subjected to the mutagenic Terrigen Mists, Blackagar was actually exposed in utero, resulting in greater than normal abilities. As an infant, he couldn't control his energy manipulation abilities - he threw a temper tantrum while being studied in a lab and nearly destroyed Attilan with the destructive sonic energy of his vocal cords. Found in the rubble of the collapsed lab, Black Bolt survived by shielding himself with a high-density electron force field.

For the protection of all Inhumans, Black Bolt was placed inside a soundproof chamber and given an energy-harnessing suit, while being taught to control his abilities. When he was released at age 19, he was reunited with his cousins and his brother Maximus, who immediately attacked him, hoping to force Black Bolt to speak and prove he was unworthy of being king. With the aid of Black Bolt's cousins, Maximus was knocked unconscious and Black Bolt proved himself worthy of his future title.

Sonic Super Powers

Black Bolt's Terrigen-mutated physique surpasses that of the typical Inhuman. His strength, stamina, durability, and reflexes are all super human, and his speed and agility are enhanced.

An organic mechanism in his brain's speech center produces an unknown particle that interacts with ambient electrons, enabling him to produce certain mentally-controlled phenomena. But, the most devastating of the effects is Black Bolt's quasi-sonic scream. Because his electron-harnessing ability is linked to the speech center of his brain, any attempt to use his vocal cords triggers an uncontrollable disturbance of the particle/electron interaction field. At full strength, his voice generates a shockwave equivalent to a nuclear weapon's, while a whisper can rock a battleship. The fork-like antenna worn upon his forehead helps Black Bolt control his powers.

He can channel his powers inward to increase his strength and speed, and he can focus it through his arms as concussive blasts. Black Bolt is capable of channeling all available energy into one devastating punch called his Master Blow, which renders him extremely vulnerable. By concentrating his electrons into anti-electrons, he can fly at speeds up to 500 mph for a period of six hours while protected by an anti-graviton field. Black Bolt can create a nearly impenetrable force field by focusing his energy around himself and can use his electron abilities as extrasensory probes. Highly sensitive to electromagnetic phenomena, he can also jam certain electromagnetic mechanisms. Though exhausting, he can create particle/electron interaction fields solid enough to be traversed upon. His immunity to disease is inferior to human immunity.

Sibling Rivalry

Black Bolt's biggest enemy is his own brother, Maximus. Gifted with an incredible intellect and penchant for strategy after being exposed to the Terrigen Mist, Maximus kept his powers a secret with plans to usurp the throne from Black Bolt. Shortly after rejoining his family, Black Bolt learned of Maximus' treacherous alliance with the alien Kree, whose prehistoric experiments created the Inhuman race.

Humanity, mistrusting and fearful of the Inhuman people, is another major foe of Black Bolt, who must fight this inferior species to protect his own. Humans captured Black Bolt's fish-like cousin Triton, who escaped and reported that the humans were violent and uncivilized.

Earthly Allies

Despite their intense mistrust of humanity and any non-Inhumans, Black Bolt and the rest of the royal family have become friends with hero groups such as the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

While exploring the outside world, the royal family again met the Fantastic Four, helping them rescue their leader Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) from the Negative Zone. While traveling in Wakanda, Black Bolt met the Wakandan king, T'Challa, and helped him defeat the villainous Sandman (William Baker) and Psycho Man. When the Hulk (Bruce Banner) wandered near Attilan and battled the Inhumans, Black Bolt fought the Hulk briefly before offering his hand in friendship as fellow outcasts of humanity.

A Powerful Protector

Believing Black Bolt was a mutant, the mutant criminal Magneto kidnapped the royal family to force the Inhumans into his war with humanity. As Magneto tried to sap Black Bolt's will, the other Inhumans escaped and attacked. Black Bolt regained his memories, broke free and bested the villain. Later, Black Bolt subdued the Hulk after some Inhumans provoked a returning Bruce Banner. Realizing the near-unstoppable Hulk would soon awaken, Black Bolt sent him in a rocket into space, where he landed on the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth.

In the following months, Black Bolt and the other Inhumans faced such threats as the Negative Zone's Blastaar, Kree agent Shatterstar (Arides), Maximus and his rogue Inhumans, a civil war amongst the alien Stenth, and another unwanted battle with the Hulk, which ended with the Hulk once again considering the Inhumans his friends. Black Bolt next teamed with the Kree Super Hero Captain Mar-Vell and defeated the Sphinx (Anath-Na Mut) with the help of the Fantastic Four. After the interstellar Kree-Skrull war almost destroyed Earth, Black Bolt joined several of Earth's leading superhumans (the Illuminati) in the hopes of secretly working to prevent future disasters. When a mysterious plague struck the Inhumans, Mr. Fantastic identified pollution as the cause and created a temporary antidote, and the Fantastic Four aided the Inhumans in relocating Attilan to the hospitable Blue Area of the Moon.

After years of courtship, Black Bolt and Medusa were finally married despite Kree and Skrull soldiers Bel-Dann and Raksor's ongoing struggle threatening to ruin the wedding. Medusa soon became pregnant, causing great controversy since Inhuman law forbade reproduction without careful genetic studies and approval by the Genetics Council. The Council immediately ordered the baby's destruction fearing the baby would inherit his father's destructive powers or his uncle's madness. When Black Bolt stood by the Council's decision, Medusa fled to Earth to give birth to their son. After Black Bolt came to Earth to meet his son, he and Medusa returned to Attilan to present their son, named Ahura, to the Genetics Council. The council rescinded their death order, but promised to study the baby very carefully.

When the mutant conqueror Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) recruited several Inhumans into his Riders of the Storm, he took control of Attilan. Black Bolt and the remaining Inhumans teamed with the mutant Super Hero team X-Factor to defeat Apocalypse. When it was discovered that the Inhumans' Genetics Council was corrupt and attempting to brainwash Ahura, Black Bolt and the royal family defeated the Council. They rejected their royal status and moved to Earth. When the artificial environment was changed in the Blue Area of the Moon, the Inhumans nearly suffocated. The Fantastic Four shrank the city and returned it to Earth, placing it on the recently risen land of Atlantis, with Black Bolt once again ruling.

Black Bolt's fork-shaped antenna was damaged in battle and could no longer help control his powers, driving him temporarily insane and causing him to attack his family and friends before he was finally subdued. Mr. Fantastic and Psi-Lord (Franklin Richards) repaired the damage, enabling a full recovery. Soon after, Ahura was placed in protective custody by the Genetics Council, who had determined that he suffered from the same insanity as Maximus. Black Bolt and Medusa were forbidden to speak of their son from then on. With ancient ruins and artifacts still on Atlantis, various governments began making claims to the land, and a large group of Portuguese mercenaries attacked Attilan's protective barriers.

Not wishing anyone harm, Black Bolt devised a plan that ended with Atlantis back underwater, and Attilan secretly moved back to the Himalayas. Attilan was soon removed from Earth by the Kree fanatic Ronan the Accuser, who transported it into space and placed Black Bolt and the Inhumans under his control in his war with the alien Shi'ar. However, Black Bolt led his people to freedom. Black Bolt and the royal family requested sanctuary on Earth, but the United Nations would only allow them to resettle on the Blue Area of the Moon. Trying to foster better relationships with humanity, Black Bolt agreed to a cultural exchange initiative with the United States, sending a group of young Inhumans to Earth to study, socialize and acclimate themselves with humanity, and bring what they learned back to Attilan.

When a mass Super Villain prison breakout occurred at the Raft, Black Bolt and the rest of the Illuminati asked Iron Man why he had not notified them. This led to discussions regarding the supremely powerful Sentry (Bob Reynolds) and a battle involving Black Bolt and several of Earth's heroes against the Sentry's evil alter-ego the Void. Mr. Fantastic had the Illuminati gather the powerful Infinity Gems, with Black Bolt assigned to protect and hide the Power Gem. Black Bolt was later one of the Illuminati members who decided to send the Hulk to a distant, uninhabited planet to prevent his destructive rampages on Earth. The spacecraft was unexpectedly redirected to the savage planet Sakaar, where the Hulk was forced to become a gladiator. Meanwhile, insane ex-mutant Quicksilver stole the Terrigen Mists from the Inhumans, indirectly causing them to fall into the hands of the United States government. When the government refused the Inhumans' demand for their return, Black Bolt declared war on the United States. Initially a "cold war," this escalated when Inhumans caused the deaths of several civilians.

On Sakaar, the Hulk achieved contentment as the planet's new ruler until the spacecraft that brought him there exploded, causing mass destruction and killing the Hulk's new wife and their unborn child. Crazed with grief and rage and obsessed with vengeance, Hulk declared all-out war on the heroes who had sent him into space. Choosing Black Bolt as the first to fall, the Hulk brutally beat him into submission, had him fitted with a Sakaarian slave disc, and forced him to battle his fellow Illuminati. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Maximus took advantage of the situation of the war of the Mists and asserted mental control over many Inhumans, including Medusa. He secured his release as well as that of Ahura. Despite his marital strife, Black Bolt led attacks to retrieve the Mists on Earth then fought Terrigen-enhanced humans in Attilan, an attack that led to Attilan's near destruction. Though the Mists were returned, Maximus, with the Inhumans (except for Black Bolt and Luna) in his thrall, ruled Attilan once again.

The Inhumans eventually returned to Earth, floating Attilan over New York City. Thanos arrived, hoping to force the Inhumans to turn over his Inhuman-descended son, Thane. Black Bolt attacked Thanos with his scream, destroying Attilan in the process. He activated a Terrigen bomb, hoping to destroy Thanos in the process, that transformed anyone on Earth with Inhuman genes into a full Inhuman. As a result, the Inhumans were spread throughout the world with new ones appearing across the Earth.