Thing

The Thing

Real Name	Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm
First Appearance	The Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #1 (November, 1961)
Creators	Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Team Affiliations	Future Foundation, Fantastic Four, UCWF, West Coast Avengers, Thunderiders, Yancy Street Gang, Avengers West Coast, New Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Worthy
Aliases	Blackbeard the Pirate, Angrir: Breaker of Souls, Dr. Josiah Verpoorteen, El Morrito
Base of Operations	New York City
Powers	Superhuman strength, stamina and durability, Rock-like skin, Enhanced Lung Capacity
Skills and Abilities	Skilled street fighter and hand to hand combatant, Excellent dexterity, Above-average reflexes, Professional Pilot
Paraphernalia	None

The Thing (Ben Grimm) is a superhero in the Marvel Universe and a member of the Fantastic Four.

Origin[]

Ben Grimm was a pilot who was convinced by his friend, Reed Richards, to steal and test an experimental rocket Richards designed. The rocket was bombarded by cosmic rays during its flight, causing Ben, Reed, Reed's girlfriend Sue Storm and her brother Johnny, to crash. When they landed, they found themselves alive but physically changed, with strange powers. Ben was given great strength and durability but was also transformed into a rock-like creature, making him feel like an outsider. Since then, he fought alongside Reed, Sue and Johnny, who became the Fantastic Four and Ben was given a new nickname; The Thing.

Movies and TV shows[]

Fantastic Four the Animated series
Ultimate Spider Man
The Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Fantastic Four (2015)

Powers[]

Superhuman strength
Invulnerability

Abilities[]

Expert Pilot: Ben is an exceptionally skilled and experienced pilot, proficient with many varieties of both conventional and exotic aircraft.
- Aviation Mastery
Experienced Astronaut: Ben has also trained as an astronaut and was piloting Reed Richard's spacecraft during the team's fateful bombardment with cosmic rays. Reed and the Inhumans entrusted the difficult navigation and safe flight of Attilan to the Blue Area of the Moon to him.
- Spacecraft Mastery
Melee Fighter
- Master Combatant: He is uniquely gifted in the art of hand-to-hand combat (a skill Ben honed long before he became the Thing), though his fighting style tends to be a rather loose brawling technique all his own. This style often incorporates collegiate wrestling techniques, Boxing (as he has been stated to have spent hours upon hours honing his boxing skills in the gym during college), and on at least one occasion even Jujutsu. In his youth, Ben was a talented football player.

Paraphernalia[]

Equipment[]

Fantastic Four uniform

Main article: Fantastic Four Uniforms

The Thing's costume, and the rest of his wardrobe, is constructed of unstable molecules. The Thing's costume has a complete data processing and telemetry system woven into its fabric on a molecular level, making it like a wearable computer. The costume forms a network with the rest of the Fantastic Four, providing a constant, real time uplink of everyone’s physical condition as well as their location and current situation. The costume is capable of displaying data and has touch-pad controls on the gauntlets. Its sensors can track all of the team's uniforms and provide a picture of their immediate vicinity. The costume has an intricate scanner system which can detect things around the wearer, from how many people are in the next room to what dimension or planet they are on.

Fantasti-Flare

Main article: Fantasti-Flare

The Thing normally carries a miniature flare pistol capable of creating a fiery “4" signal in the sky. Used as a weapon, the incendiary charge will ignite flammable materials.

Universal translator

Main article: Universal Translator

Ben has a universal translator that can decipher and interpret languages, both alien and terrestrial, into the native language of the user.

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Former Equipment

Weapons[]

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Former Weapons

Transportation[]

See also: Vehicles of the Fantastic Four

Fantasti-Car MK II, Pogo Plane MK I.