The Alpha Primitives are a race of sub-human worker drones once employed by the Inhumans to perform manual labor and menial tasks. They came into existence about four thousand years ago when the geneticist Avadar convinced the ruling Council of Genetics that a race of sub-human servants would free the Inhumans from the need to toil for subsistence, so all could devote themselves to the pursuits of knowledge. Avadar bio-engineered the prototype of the Alphas, and within a decade five hundred Alpha Primitives were bred to perform all of the support services for the entire city of Attilan: sanitation, food production, manufacturing and so forth.
The Alpha Primitives are basically docile creatures with simple thoughts and emotions. They are all the same neuter sex, preventing them from procreating naturally Cloning is the sole means by which they may propagate. Each Alpha is exactly like every other. They are all five foot seven inches tall, have green eyes and hairless bodies. They are slightly superior in strength to the average human being, being able to lift (press) approximately 1000 pounds under optimal conditions. They work eighteen hours a day, and sleep the other six. They have no culture or need for recreation. They have been taught to speak and understand the basic vocabulary of a six-year-old human being. They have a life expectancy of forty-two years.
The Alpha Primitives have occasionally been the subjects of unlawful genetic experimentation. Maximus, the brilliant but demented brother to the Inhumans' king Black Bolt, has performed experiments on them. In his first experiment, Maximus subjected three Alpha Primitives to a highly potent quantity of the mutagenic Terrigen Mist, causing them to become glowing globules of energy, collectively called the Trikon. The Trikon aided Maximus in his first attempt to seize the crown from his brother Black Bolt, and forced the Royal Family of the Inhumans into exile for a number of years. The Trikon was eventually vanquished from Attilan. Maximus's second experiment on the Alpha Primitives was less direct. Constructing a giant synthetic humanoid body as a receptable, Maximus built a device that could siphon the psi energy generated by the collective guilt that most modem Inhumans felt toward their slaves and transform it into physical energy. This energy empowered the giant humanoid, who became known as Omega, the ultimate Alpha. Omega was rendered inert when the Inhumans ceased their open warfare against their rebellious worker class.
Following the Omega incident, the Inhumans emancipated the Alpha Primitives from their labors and set them free to live as they please in the sub-city beneath Attilan. Having no culture and no knowledge of recreation, many of them have gone about their tasks as usual, despite their freedom. Since it is now illegal to clone replacement Alpha Primitives, their ranks are dwindling. Inhuman missionaries have been sent beneath the city to tutor the Alphas and administer to their welfare.
