Yes, The Inhumans’ Lockjaw Is a Dog

The release of the first trailer for Marvel’s Inhumans has revived an age-old question familiar to comic book readers: Is the Inhumans’ Lockjaw a dog? Is he a pet? Was he a person who became a dog-like being as a result of the Inhumans’ power-granting Terrigenesis process?

It’s a question that we at Comicbook.com have been asked many times today, and it seemed like as good a chance as any to get to the bottom of this (surprisingly complicated) question.

This is actually an issue with a few twists and turns across the character’s history and Marvel’s decades-long continuity.

Reading this article means that you’ve come to just the right place to find out Lockjaw’s uncanny or secret origin, depending on what defunct origin-based series you want to reference.

So come with us on a surprisingly twisty-turny journey through the history of everyone’s favorite giant, teleporting dog-creature.

THE DEBATE

Lockjaw first appeared during the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby run on the Fantastic Four series. While his origin was never definitely stated, his appearance and treatment by the other Inhuman characters always suggested that he was a beloved family pet but nothing more. Like the Inhumans themselves, he has powers, in his case teleportation.

It’s worth nothing though that given the way he occasionally uses those powers to teleport other characters to locations they need to be when they themselves might not even want to go there, he does seem to have a certain level of intellect and intelligence. Still, for a number of years, he never spoke and was never treated as more than a highly useful and intelligent beast.

That changed, at least temporarily in issue three of The Thing, a series written by John Byrne. During this story, Lockjaw is shown to speak in order to emphasize that the result of Terrigenesis is not always positive.

For the purpose of the story, it serves to give the mutant character Quicksilver pause when advocating that his half-mutant, half-Inhuman daughter Luna conceived with Crystal of the Inhumans be exposed to the Terrigenesis process.

When Ben Grimm, the eponymous Thing of the series, asks why Lockjaw never spoke until then, he replies that he “Never had… Anything… To say, Ben.” For a time, this story established that Lockjaw was fully an Inhuman who had undergone Terrigenesis and for whom speaking was in Ben’s words “Excrutiatin’.”

Comics being what they are though, this instance of Lockjaw’s speech and its implications were eventually undone (or at the very least undermined) by Peter David’s X-Factor #71. In this issue, Quicksilver himself reveals to Madrox the Multiple Man that Lockjaw’s speech was a fiction and that he has always been a dog-like creature and not an Inhuman.

Instead of his own speech, Quicksilver reveals that the Inhumans Gorgon and Karnak were playing a prank on Ben Grimm and used a “high-powered transmitter” to make him think Lockjaw was speaking. The often-mirthless mutant himself makes the point to Madrox “If Lockjaw is a deformed Inhuman, then why have the Inhumans always talked to him like a dog? Wouldn’t that be somewhat patronizing?”

THE VERDICT

Going back to the earlier points about how Lockjaw was treated going back to the Lee/Kirby run of Fantastic Four, Quicksilver’s points about his treatment by the Inhumans would seem to back up Lockjaw’s status and probable history.

Also, it’s no secret that John Byrne has never been too shy about injecting his own interpretations about comic book continuity when he feels that he has a better idea at hand.

So, what is Lockjaw? Despite the vicissitudes of the creators who have worked with the character, his overall treatment and canon seem to back up that he is not an Inhuman. What he is, exactly, has never been stated but the best anyone can figure is that he is a dog-like beast with powers very likely derived from Terrigenesis or a similar process.

Perhaps more importantly, Lockjaw has been and continues to be a fan favorite character, interacting with folks from across the Marvel Universe.

In recent years, he’s made notable appearances in the Ms. Marvel series starring Kamala Khan and somewhat earlier in Matt Fraction’s FF. He is a true and loyal companion as well as a vital member of the Pet Avengers (yes, that is a thing and you can look it up on your own).

So, that’s that question sorted to the best of our ability. Now back to wrapping our heads around the trailer for The Inhumans and trying to figure out if anything in it is better than the appearance of the almost-definitely-not-an-Inhuman member of the Inhumans.

MORE INHUMANS NEWS

Look for more Inhumans news coming soon, and expect plenty more once Comic Con International: San Diego rolls around next month.

After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.

Marvel’s Inhumans stars Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Ken Leung (Karnak), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Iwan Rheon (Maximus), Sonya Balmores (Auran), Mike Moh (Triton), and Ellen Woglom).

More Inhumans news:

Marvel’s Inhumans Gets New Poster & Official Premiere Date On ABC

Marvel’s Inhumans First Trailer Description

Marvel’s Inhumans Isn’t Impressing Fans With Its Costumes

Marvel’s Inhumans Will Be ‘Unlike Anything Ever Seen on TV’